A Chance of Snow
by H.G. Stewart
Summary: This year, a few flurries is gonna bring a whole new type of excitement to Hazzard County.
1. Chapter 1

_**Ya know, a Hazzard County winter ain't much fun. It gets too cold to enjoy any of the regular outdoor activities but stays too warm to experience the benefits of ice as the northerners do. But every now and then, a winter wind dips down far enough for the youngin's to get a taste of what they normally only see in televised Christmas cartoons. Of course, some of them youngin's enjoy it more than others...**_

"Hey Luke, did you see that?"

Luke Duke stopped nailing down the patch he was applying to the barn roof long enough to look toward his blond haired, younger cousin. Seeing which direction Bo was looking in, he glanced down toward the front of the house and saw……absolutely nothing at all.

"Guess not. What was it?"

"No, not down there, right here! There's another one!"

Confused, Luke looked back toward Bo who seemed to be peering intensely at the thin air in front of him. It took some eye strain of his own, but he finally managed to see what had captured the young man's interest as Bo held his hand out, catching what Luke assumed was the smallest snowflake that could be formed and still be considered as such. Immediately melting upon contact with Bo's hand, it didn't even leave any visible moisture behind.

"Snow, Luke! Snow in Hazzard County!" Bo exclaimed, his eyes gleaming in excitement.

"Well I hope you enjoyed it, because that's probably all you're gonna get." Luke replied, smiling and shaking his head as he turned his attention back to the patch job.

"That ain't so, Luke! I's listenin' to the weather man this evenin' and he said we might get two maybe even three inches before tomorrow mornin'!"

"And since when have weathermen ever been right?" Luke asked. "Besides, even if he was, it ain't no big deal. It's not like it ain't never snowed here before."

"Aw Luke, them little dustin's we usually get once a winter barely even covers the grass and is usually gone in an hour or so. We're talkin' real snow, even enough to make a snowball man."

Luke chucked at the thought that Bo could still take delight in making a 'snowball man'. Since Georgia didn't get much snow in the winter, the Dukes had compensated for the lack thereof as children. If one of the dustings did come along, they would scrape enough snow into their fists to form three snowballs. Stacking them one on the other, they would set their new friend on the porch step, where he would be adored with rock buttons, holly bush berry eyes and twig arms. A scrap of fabric from Aunt Lavinia's quilting bag was always cut strategically to form a miniature shawl that would be wrapped around the snowman's neck while one of Daisy's dolls lost her hat during his short stay.

He started to reply when an unfamiliar brown station wagon pulled up to the back door. "Wonder who that is?" He asked.

Neither of the boys needed perfect vision from where they sat to see that whoever it was had shoulder length blond hair. While that's all they could really see, it was enough of a start to get them in a contest to see who could climb down the ladder first.

"Looks like I won, cuz." Bo announced with a grin, placing his feet on solid ground first as Luke stepped off the ladder behind him.

"Ya ain't to the car yet." Luke replied, stepping around Bo and making a beeline for the station wagon. Bo found himself having to take a short jog to catch up to his cousin.

"Hi!" They both exclaimed in greeting, having reached the startled lady at the same time.

"Oh, hi boys." She said after rolling down the window, a bit taken aback by the forward albeit friendly greeting. "Is this the Duke residence?"

"I told ya it was, Aunt Emily!" A youthful voice replied from inside the car. Recognizing that voice, Bo peered inside and spied one of the charges from the local Frothy Camp inside…….Tommy Vineyard.

"Hey Tommy." Bo grinned at the eight year old, a wheelchair bound youth who was one of his camp favorites. "You never told me you had such a pretty aunt!"

"Well you never asked." Tommy replied in youthful innocence as his Aunt Emily blushed.

"Hi ma'am. I'm Luke Duke and this is my cousin Bo." Luke jumped in, addressing Emily's question. "Why don't you come on into the house? It's a lot warmer in there."

"Thank you, I think I will." Emily replied.

"Actually, it looks like you lost, cuz." Luke then whispered, smiling at Bo as he rushed forward to open Emily's door for her. Bo smirked as he walked around the car to extract Tommy from his seat.

The grin that Luke offered to Bo was then offered to Emily as she got out of the car. But once she did, it faded substantially as Luke's gaze settled on her bulging stomach.

"Too bad." Bo grinned right back at his cousin at seeing Emily's delicate condition. This time it was Luke's turn to smirk as the young woman looked at the pair quizzically.

"Want your chair Tommy?" Bo asked.

"No, carry me!" Tommy demanded with a boyish grin.

"Ask Mr. Duke, Tommy, don't TELL him!" Emily reprimanded her nephew.

"No problem. If he wants carried, I'll carry him." Bo confirmed. He then commenced to picking Tommy up and, before he knew it, Tommy found himself being carried into the house by the ankles, dangling behind Bo.

"Well howdy ma'am." Uncle Jesse said once the boys had escorted Emily into the house. He then frowned in confusion as he heard a flurry of childish laughter and peered behind the lady to search for the source.

"Is that Tommy I'm hearin'?"

"Right here Uncle Jesse." Tommy replied amongst giggles as Bo turned to show Jesse Tommy's current predicament.

"Put that youngin' down! Ain't you got the sense God gave a buzzard?" Jesse sneered at Bo's action.

Bo simply laughed himself as Luke assisted Tommy into an upright position and they placed him in a chair at the kitchen table.

"I hope we're not disturbing you, Mr. Duke." Emily said, bringing Jesse's attention away from the boys.

"Oh no, not at all. What can I do fer ya?'

"Well perhaps I should begin by introducing myself. I'm Emily McGee, Travis Martin's niece."

"Well how about that?" Jesse smiled. "I ain't seen Travis since he moved over near Jasper. How's he doing?"

"Oh fine, just fine. He wishes he could get to Hazzard more often but those new chicken houses of his keeps him going full time."

"I see." Jesse nods.

"Well, the reason I'm here is because Uncle Travis said I could use his cabin while I'm visiting Tommy for the weekend. I don't have a key and it's my understanding that you were given a spare."

Jesse thought a minute before he nodded. "That I was, almost forgot about it." He replied, getting on a chair to fetch the key from a tin he kept hidden on top of the cupboard. "But uh, you sure you wanna stay up there? Them woods ain't too wheelchair friendly and…." He trailed off as he looked at her stomach. "…..If I ain't bein' too forward you look like you're gonna be ready most any time."

"Oh I'm fine, Mr. Duke. Still have three weeks to go." Emily replied as she took the key. "And as far as the wheelchair, don't worry. Ole' Tommy here can get around better than me most of the time."

"I can get around better than most people, 'specially Bo here." Tommy giggled from his seat at the table before he and Bo exchanged friendly jabs.

"Well okay." Jesse replied. "But if ya need to I wouldn't mind you stayin' with us. Tommy here could bunk with the boys and Daisy's got a nice sized bed in her room."

"No, I couldn't impose, Mr. Duke." Emily replied. Besides, I don't get to see Tommy very much, I'd really like to have some one on one time with him this weekend."

Jesse simply nodded. "Well you two be careful up there. They're callin' for a chance of snow tonight. Ya got enough food ta see ya thru a couple of days?"

"We do. Thank you." Emily replied, turning toward Bo. "If you don't mind taking Tommy back to the car, I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to make it to the cabin before dark."

"Yes ma'am." Bo replied, starting to pick Tommy up by his ankles again. Both his and Tommy's faces fell as Jesse gave Bo a stern look. Reluctantly, he snaked one arm under Tommy's arms and the other under his knees as he carried him out of the house.

Once Bo had secured Tommy in the car, he, Luke and Jesse waved goodbye to the pair as they set off in the direction of the cabin. Looking at the darkening evening sky and spying a few more microscopic flakes, Jesse turned to the boys. "Ya best finish that patch job 'fore the roof gits wet."

"Yes sir." They replied, heading toward the ladder that was on the side of the barn once again as Jesse retreated back inside the house.

"Well I hope you wasn't too disappointed there, cuz." Bo announced in laughter, remembering the look on Luke's face as Emily emerged from the car.

"You didn't exactly sit still when she pulled up, Bo." Luke replied as he took the ladder rungs two at a time. "Now c'mon. We gotta finish this patch job 'fore it gets dark out."

"You mean before the roof gets wet." Bo replied, staring at the flakes that had gotten a little fatter on his way up the ladder.

"There ain't no chance of that." Luke announced as he left the ladder and began walking toward the patch. "Like I said it ain't gonna sn…."

Luke was abruptly cut off as he hit a wet spot on the roof. As Bo watched helplessly, his cousin fell and slid off the side!

_**Ya know, when Luke first saw Emily, I kinda suspected he might end up head over heels, but this ain't what I had in mind.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Bo was horrified and helpless as he watched his cousin slide off the roof. As for Luke, it only took him a mere millisecond to realize there was nothing to grab on to, so he focused on the best landing possible.

He landed hard on his feet and immediately fell over. While his feet and legs had taken most of the punishment, the hearty thud heard when his full body made contact with the ground left little doubt that other areas hadn't come away unscathed.

Bo was at his side instantly, having practically slid back down the ladder. Jesse, who had seen the event from the kitchen window, wasn't far behind Bo while Daisy pulled up in her Jeep, having just returned from work at the Boar's Nest.

"Luke! Luke you alright?" Bo asked with concern as Luke lay there gasping for air.

"Think………..okay…….wind………..knocked……outta……me." Luke replied as Bo and Jesse reached down to assist him.

"Well jist take it easy. Get yourself some deep breaths." Jesse coaxed, subtly examining the rest of Luke's body for other injuries.

"I'm gonna call Doc Appleby." Daisy insisted as she turned to run toward the house.

"No really…….Daisy I think I'm gonna be…….okay in a minute." Luke replied, stopping her.

Without responding, Jesse turned to Daisy and gave her a knowing look. Without comment, she turned and dashed into the house, where she would ignore Luke's objection and make that phone call.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You sure you can't stay for a cup of coffee, Homer?" Jesse asked Doc Appleby on his way out the door about an hour and a half later.

"I'd love to Jesse, but I's on my way out ta see to Eugene's cow when ya called me. Poor thing got her leg all tangled up in some bob wire and cut it to pieces."

"Well we sure appreciate the quick response." Jesse confessed.

Doc Appleby shook his head. "Don't waste your breath, Jesse. You know I'd do anything I could for this family."

Jesse offered him a smile of gratitude. "Be sure 'nd bundle up out there. Gettin' pretty cold and it won't do us good ta have the doctor sick."

"Will do. See ya Jesse." Doc Appleby replied with a slight chuckle as he pulled his coat up around his neck and went to his car.

"He's asleep now." Daisy announced as Jesse closed the door, she herself softly closing the boys' bedroom door at the same time.

"Rest 'ill do him good, I suppose." Bo replied from the living room. "Keep him from concentratin' on the pain."

"Luke's lucky to have gotten away with only a dislocated ankle and fracture rib." Daisy replied. "I always park my jeep right where he fell. If Dixie hada been parked there…." She trailed off with a shiver. "I just don't wanna think about what could have happened."

"Neither do I." Bo agreed.

Glancing toward Jesse, Daisy noticed that he was staring out the window, a position he had held for the length of their conversation.

"Don't worry, Uncle Jesse." She said, moving toward him. "Luke's gonna be fine."

"Huh?" Jesse asked, turning toward Daisy. "Luke? Oh I know, praise the Lord. But take a gander at that."

As Jesse jutted a thumb at the window, Daisy and Bo looked outside.

"Well alright!" Bo exclaimed with a grin, clapping his hands together as fat snowflakes drifted into the beam of the outdoor light. "That don't look like it's gonna let up anytime soon, does it?"

"No…….it don't." Jesse trailed off.

Daisy frowned at his response. "Somethin' wrong Uncle Jesse?"

"Well, my big toe's hurtin', and whenever that happens, somethin' bad's a comin'."

"I can't imagine what." Bo replied. "We're all here, safe and sound, well, 'cept for Luke. But Doc Appleby didn't seem too worried and left him enough pain medicine and all to get him through Sunday, anyway."

"But didn't you notice?" Jesse confirmed, gazing at the snow. "Stuff's already four, near five inches high. And it ain't showin' no sign of stoppin'."

As a matter of fact, neither Bo nor Daisy had noticed. While Bo normally would have been sitting next to the window after a few flurries anticipating every flake, his concern had been with Luke and his injuries. Now that all the excitement had died down, he frowned at seeing the substantial amount of snow for Hazzard, which was accompanied by a swirling wind and, to his amazement…….a roll of thunder.

"What was that?" Daisy asked barely above a whisper.

"A warnin'." Jesse replied as he became lost in thought. "I ain't heard nothin' like that durin' a snowstorm since the winter I's eight years old, but even with all the time that's past, I remember very clearly what that warnin' means."

"What?" Bo asked.

Jesse turned from the window to look at Bo and Daisy. "A blizzard." He said simply as another crack of thunder sounded in the distance and the lights of the house abruptly dimmed.

"Tommy!" Bo blurted out.

Jesse nodded. "You'll need help, so's I'm goin' with you. Besides, I don't like the idea of you bein' out in this by yerself. Daisy, you stay here and look after Luke whilst were gone, and keep the fire goin'."

"Now hang on Uncle Jesse." Daisy argued. "You really think you need to be out there? You're just getting over that bronchitis that you were in bed with last week. You stay here and I'll go with Bo."

"I ain't sendin' two of my youngin's out there!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Daisy's right, Jesse, you need to stay where it's warm. Besides, Luke always does better with you when he's not feelin' well."

Jesse let out a small groan of frustration. He knew that if it had been one of his kids with the bronchitis, he would have insisted they stay home, and Bo was right when he said that Luke did better for him when he was laid up. "Alright." He finally agreed, pointing a finger at them. "But you two be careful and watch after each other. And git back just as fast as ya can."

"Yes sir." They both replied, going to the coat rack and putting on the heavy coats that were several years old but still looked practically new due to rare use. Digging some hats and gloves out of a small storage area, they put them on as well before going to the linen closet to grab some heavy blankets and pillows to keep Tommy and his Aunt Emily warm and hopefully comfortable during the ride back to the farm.

As they went out to Dixie, Jesse watched once again from the window as they loaded the blankets into the only vehicle in their possession capable of handling such weather conditions.

After they had rolled out of sight, Jesse barely had enough time to bow his head to ask for their protection when a loud rap on the front door interrupted him. Lighting a lantern that he kept under the sink, he made his way to the front door as the rapping continued with insistence.

"Hold yer horses, I'm comin', I'm comin'." Jesse muttered as he paced toward the door with lantern in hand. Turning the knob, he quickly discovered that the deadbolt had been put in place. As soon as he turned it the door opened toward him and whoever was knocking came in.

"Brrr, Jesse. This night ain't fit fer man nor beast." The visitor said as he moved toward the fireplace. Once he got there, he pulled off his hat and bent down to warn his hands.

"Homer?" Jesse asked, seeing his snow covered clothes as he held the lantern near him. "What happened? You jist left here!"

"Must've hit a patch of ice there on the road, Jesse. Slid my car off in the ditch." The doctor replied, repeating a pattern of rubbing his hands together and blowing in them before holding them in front of the fire.

"Well I thought you's headin' toward Eugene's. Didn't the kids see ya out there walkin'? It had ta be on their way."

"Kids?" Doc Appleby asked.

"Bo 'nd Daisy."

"So that's who was out in this storm? I'm afraid they didn't, Jesse. Probably couldn't see me. Visibilities' near zero out there." He announced, taking off his coat. "Where was they going anyway?"

Jesse frowned at Doc Appleby's revelation. "Up ta Travis Martin's place. Tommy Vineyard's up there with his Aunt and we's afraid they might not have enough ta make it through the storm."

"Oh dear." Doc Appleby simply replied turning back to the fire.

"I don't like the way you said that, Homer. Out with it." Jesse insisted.

"Well I don't know how to tell you this, but the storm knocked a tree down across the road that leads up to Travis Martin's place. Jesse, there ain't no way of getting past it 'cept by foot!"

_**I sure hope ole' Travis didn't build his place too far up the road, don't ya'll?**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Bo be careful!" Daisy exclaimed as the two of them were in Dixie, trying to make their way to Tommy. "Didn't you see that tree halfway in the road?"

"Daisy, I can't even see tha dang road, let alone a tree in it!" Bo muttered nervously.

"I don't know about this. Do you think we should go back?" Daisy asked, peering through the wipers that did little more than keep snow from completely blanketing the windshield.

"I can't go back Daisy, not without Tommy." Bo replied. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I can't see for the life of me where I'd turn this thing around."

Daisy couldn't argue with that. With no better options, she zipped down the soft top of Dixie on her side, hoping she might get a better view of some countryside landmarks than Bo was getting through the windshield.

"Hey Bo, I think we're almost there! Isn't that Sarah Gallman's old well?"

Dixie's top speed at the moment was only 5 mph but Bo slowed it even further as he peered through the darkness. "I think so." He replied, recognizing the ancient source of water that Sarah only kept around as a centerpiece for her summer flowerbed.

"Good! Then that means the turnoff to Travis' place should just be around the bend."

As Bo inched forward, he couldn't help but laugh a little. "If somebody would have told me this morning that there would come a time it would take me an hour to drive half a mile, I'd a thought they's crazy."

"Yeah, me too." Daisy laughed, then her eyes widened. "Bo look out!"

In response, Bo slammed on the brakes, which at that speed, didn't feel like an abrupt stop. Peering through the abbreviated view offered by the headlights, he saw a tree almost completely covered with snow blocking the turnoff to the Martin residence.

"Oh no what are we gonna do now?" Daisy exclaimed.

"Ain't got no choice Daisy, we're gonna hafta walk." Bo replied. Bundling up as best he could, he opened the door of the jeep and slowly walked to Daisy's side. But before he got there, he heard what sounded very much like the crack of gunfire!

Wondering who could possibly be out hunting in such weather conditions, he turned in the direction of the shot. Seeing a large shadow getting larger by the minute, Bo's eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't heard a gunshot, but the sound of a tall, frozen pine tree, as it broke against the howling wind!

"Bo!" Daisy yelled out as her cousin instinctively dove under the jeep. But he really shouldn't have bothered. The tree landed well out of Bo's reach, fifty or so feet away.

"That was scary." Daisy admitted, grabbing both of Bo's hands and giving them a squeeze after he stood back up.

Listening to what sounded like a second gunfire echo through the woods, followed by the thump of another tree, Bo turned to his cousin. "Daisy, I want you to stay in the jeep and wait for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Oh no you don't, Bo Duke! You're not walking through those woods!" Daisy insisted.

"Daisy, there's a pregnant woman and a crippled child up there that needs rescuin'. Now I gotta get 'em down and that's gonna be hard enough without havin' to worry about you too! Uncle Jesse would tan my hide if he knew I let you come along in these conditions."

"Uncle Jesse would tan your hide for attempting these conditions!" Daisy replied, staring into Bo's eyes, the only thing recognizable between his hat, the heavy scarf covering his nose, and the white snowflakes that had embedded themselves in his eyelashes.

"Just please stay here!" Bo called out above the wind, not wanting to argue and simply turning toward the Martin cabin.

Daisy could tell when Bo's mind was made up. The idea of going into those woods with the trees the way they were scared the wits out of her, but the idea of letting Bo go in there alone scared her even more. Grabbing a couple of flashlights from the glove compartment. She exited the jeep and struggled to catch up to Bo.

By the time she did, they were both way to far from the Jeep for Bo to insist she return. Putting and arm around each other and holding the flashlights in front of them. They pressed onward in the direction of the cabin, trembling each time they heard the pot shot sounds of another tree.

After what seemed like forever, they heard a voice calling out to them. Following the voice, they trudged forward, only making out the form of the cabin when they had reached the front step. Moving into the cabin, Bo immediately felt himself being embraced by Emily McGee.

"Oh Mr. Duke, Miss Duke!" She cried out, holding onto Bo as if he were the link to her life itself. "Thank God you came! We were so scared! The trees outside are breaking and the cabins just creaking and groaning like it's gonna fall in any minute!"

"How you doin' Tommy?" Daisy asked as Bo hugged Emily, moving toward the young boy who sat on the bed, wrapped in a coat with his arms embracing a worn teddy bear tightly.

"I wanna go home Daisy." Tommy replied with a trembling lip, not at all the jovial youngster who had won the hearts of the Dukes.

"How did you know we were coming?" Bo couldn't help but ask after Emily finally let him go.

"Your Uncle Jesse managed to get a CB message to me." Emily replied. "He said you were coming out and told me to go ahead and get Tommy ready. He also wanted you to call him when you got here. But of course, there's no CB reception anymore."

"I'm sure he was worried." Daisy replied as she soothed Tommy.

"I managed to warm some coffee before the power went. Thought you might need it after that cold walk." Emily announced.

"We could sure use it, but considerin' the situation, I'd say it's best we wait until we get back to the farm." Daisy replied.

"Ready for a piggy back ride, Tommy?" Bo asked, wasting no time in going over to the youngster and zipping and snapping what needed zipped and snapped on his coat.

"I'm scared Bo." Tommy said sincerely.

Bo gave him a forced look of mild amusement. "Aw, anybody that can handle snakes and screechin' tires can handle a little snow, can't they?"

When Tommy shook his head, Bo put a finger on his chin to lift his face to look at him. "I've got a confession to make Tommy. I'm scared too. But it ain't safe to stay here. This cabin's old and it can't take this kind of weather. Besides, even if it could, this storm could hole everybody up for days, and there ain't enough food here to get ya past the weekend."

"You're not scared Bo." Tommy argued. "You're not scared of anything. That's why I wanna be like you. If you were scared, you wouldn't 'ave come through the storm to get me."

Bo felt a sense of pride at the boy's revelation. Having always been the baby of the family, it felt good to have someone look up to him. "Tommy, I do get scared, it's just that I have courage. And havin' courage doesn't mean you don't get scared, it just means that you go ahead and do whatever it is you're scared of because there's something more important going on than the fear. And it was more important for me to get through that storm and get you out of here than to be afraid of it. You understand?"

Tommy nodded his head in response.

"Can you have courage for me?"

"It's more important that we get somewhere safe than it is to take our chances here. We gotta go out there." Tommy replied.

"Thata boy." Bo replied, patting him on the arm. Turning around, he instructed Tommy to grab on, and he hoisted the youngster up onto his back.

"Everybody ready?" Daisy asked, holding up Travis's oil lamp that would assist them along with the flashlights in getting back to Dixie.

Pulling shawls over their noses, everyone nodded in agreement as Daisy opened the door. Bending over slightly, they pushed themselves outside against the wind as two more rhythmic pops met their ears. Holding onto one another, they made their way into the blinding storm.

_**I don't know about ya'll, but all of a sudden I have an irresistible urge to fix myself a bowl of soup and a cup of hot chocolate.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And thanks so much for your reviews. I'm delighted to be able to say that it's because I'm getting so many, it's hard to reply to them all. But they are read and very much appreciated. Thank you for 'feeding' my hobby!_

Luke Duke woke up to a gentle breeze blowing on his face. Although his room was pitch black, from the sound of things outside, he knew exactly where that breeze had come from: the thin space where the window didn't quite meet the wall.

Taking a deep breath, he found himself suddenly in a coughing fit……..an incredibly painful coughing fit. From the way he had been feeling the last couple of days, he had feared that he might have picked up a touch of Jesse's bronchitis, but this was far more pain that even a severe chest congestion could dish out.

"Luke?" He heard Jesse say, as the door to the boys' room creaked open and his uncle entered, carrying an oil lamp. "You alright?"

"Ohhhh, my side's killin' me." The normally reserved Luke confessed, attempting to sit up in bed. He wasn't too far from the pillow when he decided that wasn't a very good idea.

"Well jist try to relax. Ya cracked yer rib, remember?"

As Jesse sat on the side of his nephew's bed, Luke suddenly recalled both his tumble from the barn roof and hearing about the injuries he'd sustained, according to Doc Appleby. Adjusting his bandaged ankle, Luke looked toward the window and could see that it was dark outside. Despite the condition, he could make out a distinct pattern of snow that had piled on the windowsill.

"Guess I's wrong about the snow, huh?" He asked.

"That you were." Jesse replied with a slight smile.

Looking over toward Bo's empty bed, Luke turned back to Jesse. "So is Bo attempting a real snowman this time or does he just have opposing armies of snowball men?" He asked, managing a slight chuckle.

"Well…….he's out there." Jesse replied as simply as possible.

"So what time is it anyway?" Luke asked.

"Um, don't worry about that Luke, you took a bad fall today and you need your rest. Don't matter what time it is."

"Well actually Jesse, I'm not tired anymore. If you ain't got no objections, I'd like to get up." Luke replied, trying to get out of bed.

"Now Luke you jist hang on. I ain't sure it's a good idea for you to be movin' around so much with that rib." Jesse replied, gently pushing him back down.

Just then, there was a soft knock on the bedroom door. Luke looked toward the door as it opened and watched as a second oil lamp appeared illuminating the face of Homer Appleby.

"I thought I heard voices." The doctor smiled. "How are you feeling Luke?"

"Sore……….and cold." Luke admitted as another gust of wind set the house to creaking and groaning as well as a fresh blast of cold air on his face.

"It is pretty cold in here Jesse." Doc Appleby pointed out. "Might not be a bad idea to get him close to the fire."

As Luke looked at Jesse he thought he detected a slight look of annoyance on his face. Even so, he went to the left side of Luke's bed while Homer Appleby went to the right, where they prepared to assist him up. On the count of three, they raised him and worked until they got him in a standing position, Luke biting his lip to keep from crying out the whole time.

It took a few minutes of work on the part of all three men, but when it was done, Luke was sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket. While he was beginning to warm up, a subtle feeling of nausea had settled into his stomach ever since he sat up. Swallowing and taking some short breaths, he tried to find something else to concentrate on.

"So how long's the power been out?" He asked.

"For awhile now. Probably gonna be without it a couple, three days the way that storm's ragin' out there." Jesse replied.

Luke then turned to the doctor. "Sorry you got stuck here on my account, Doc."

"Actually, I didn't Luke." Doc Appleby replied. "I's on my way out to the Gibson property when my car got stuck in the snow. Wadn't no where else around here to go, 'cept up to Travis Martin's old place. And with the way them tree's was crackin' and fallin' left and right up there, I figured it'd be better for me to come back here to the farm where it was safe.

Unconsciously gasping, Jesse stumbled toward his easy chair, where he sat with a look of bewilderment.

"Uncle Jesse!" Luke exclaimed, concerned at Jesse's actions. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Homer Appleby immediately realized his mistake in the idle chatter. Laying a sympathetic hand on Jesse's shoulder, he offered his apology. "Jesse I'm sorry. I guess I really shoulda told you how them trees was doin' up there in the woods, but I figured you's worried enough about them just bein' out there without havin' to worry about that too."

Listening to the conversation, realizing the house was too quite, remembering Jesse's avoidance at telling him the time, and also realizing that it was too dark outside to mess with snowmen of any size, it didn't take Luke too long to figure out what was going on, especially when he remembered who would be spending the weekend at the Martin cabin. "What time did they leave?" He asked insistently, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Eight o'clock." Jesse replied, heaving a deep sigh.

That didn't mean much to Luke yet, as he had no idea what time it was now. But he was to receive that answer soon enough, when the small, battery operated mantle clock sounded out with twelve rhythmic chimes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the four of them traipsed back through the woods, Bo's feelings of fear slowly disappeared, even against the howling wind and popping trees.

It was strange to feel numb to the whole situation. Bo wasn't sure if his annoyance at the fact that Tommy kept pushing his knit cap over his eyes had taken priority over the fear, or if it was because there was so much to fear that his mind had simply went into a protect mode.

Tommy might have weighed little more than sixty pounds, but just knowing that the extra sixty pounds would have to be endured for better or for worse for the length of the trip was enough to exhaust anyone.

And they were lost. There were so many downed trees that a clear path to the cabin from the other road where they'd left Dixie no longer existed. At least they realized that as long as they were going downhill, they would make it to the road. And making it to the road was their only option.

Only seconds after they had exited the cabin, one of the frozen pine trees was sent crashing into the rickety structure. The possibility of returning there, no matter what danger the woods held, was no longer there.

"Bo, there's Dixie!" Daisy yelled out in delight.

"Bo peered through the snowstorm and saw the headlights of Dixie beckoning to them. She was a little further down the hill and way off to the right, but at least she was a signal of exactly where they were. Apparently, Daisy had never bothered to flip the headlights off before running after Bo, an act of carelessness that turned out to be a lifesaver.

At least it was a lifesaver in some sense. While a snowdrift almost met the lights and make the jeep itself undrivable, at least opening the door would allow Bo a place to set Tommy down, and claim a much needed break.

"Hang on kiddo, we're almost there!" Bo yelled out to Tommy after his feet hit the road. Flicking off his flashlight, he opted instead to let Dixie guide his way from then on, using his newly free hand to take Tommy's hands off his head, wrap them around his neck, and push the annoying knit cap back on his head.

When they neared the jeep, Daisy ran ahead to open the door for Bo, knowing that's what he would want. By the time she had knocked the snow away and got it open, Bo had arrived and turned his back to the seat, lowering Tommy inside.

With Tommy settled, Bo began stretching his arms to bring some relief to his aching shoulders, the only things he could really feel. Everything else seemed numb from the cold.

It was then that Emily offered a nervous laugh of relief. "Oh thank God! I didn't think we were gonna make it out of that one!"

"Well it's not much further now." Daisy replied, jutting her head in the direction of the farm. "'Bout a half mile at best. Of course, walkin' in these conditions might take an hour or so."

"Then we ought to take the time to drink this." Emily replied, pulling a thermos out from her coat. Opening the top, she took a slow drink from the container before handing it to Tommy. While it wasn't piping hot, it at least returned some warmth to their bodies."

By the time the thermos had made the rounds between the four, they realized that it would be wise to continue on. "Ready Tommy?" Bo asked as Daisy and Emily walked ahead.

"Yeah. Come on Comet. Comet!" Tommy blurted out, frantically looking around his seat. "Oh Bo, I can't find Comet anywhere!"

Bo was close enough to the young man that he knew that Comet was the name of his teddy bear. "I'm sorry, Tommy. I'm sure he's in here somewhere, we'll just have to wait 'till the storms over to find him.

"There he goes!" Tommy wailed, looking ahead and pointing.

Bo turned in the direction of Daisy's headlights and saw the gray, worn teddy that Tommy had clung to back up at the cabin turning somersaults across the top of the snow.

"Oh Bo, please get him! If you don't I'm never gonna see him again!" Tommy begged.

"What's going on?" Emily called out through the howling wind.

Bo was glad his scarf hid his smirk of annoyance. Comet could do somersaults all the way to west Alabama for all he cared. But knowing how Tommy looked up to him and realizing how miserable life could get in the company of an eight year old who was mourning a lost teddy bear, Bo made the reluctant decision to go after it.

"Ya'll go on ahead, me and Tommy 'ill catch up in a few minutes." Bo replied, waving the ladies on. Now that they knew exactly where they were and were out of danger of the trees, Bo felt relatively safe in sending them on alone.

After they had nodded their agreement, Bo turned to Tommy. "Tommy, you stay right here and I'll be back in a minute with Comet."

"Thanks Bo." Tommy said sincerely, patting Bo on the back. Offering the youngster a wink, Bo turned and spotted Comet laying to the side of the road just past Thomas' old mailbox.

As Bo passed by that old mailbox, the beat up thing brought back some memories. It was just a few short years ago when he was a senior in high school that he and Luke had run across a group of kids who had taken delight in bashing mailboxes, Jesse's included. Bringing those kids to justice through a good old fashion fist fight was probably the first act of policing Bo and Luke had ever attended to, and when it was over, the mailboxes of Hazzard were safe one again. All of them at this point had been replaced, that is, except Thomas's, as he no longer lived there. The jagged, twisted box which had been blown over in the storm served as the only reminder of a period in Bo's life years past.

Turning his attention from the box, Bo reached down and picked up the lost teddy bear when one of the dreadful pops sounded nearby.

"Bo, look out!" Tommy yelled out from Dixie.

Jerking his head behind him, Bo saw the unmistakable shadow of a tree looming toward him. Throwing himself flat on the ground, well as flat as he could be considering he landed on the mailbox, he threw his arms over the back of his head and fearfully dreaded the worst.

**_Ya know, seein' this situation can make ya hate teddy bears, can't it?_**


	5. Chapter 5

Daisy Duke had been walking in the cold a long time. She was tired, she was freezing and her imagination desperately wanted to play tricks on her. Long ago the sensation had left her feet, leaving her hoping that they hadn't frozen. She shivered as she thought of an amputation, and it wasn't just from the cold.

'What's wrong?' She wanted to mutter when her pregnant companion paused long enough to look over her shoulder. Daisy would have asked the reason, but talking wasted dissipating energy that, for right now, should be conserved for more important things. Of course, this wasn't the first time Emily had stopped. While Daisy understood that the mother-to-be might become easily fatigued, knowing that the farmhouse had to be just ahead gave the leggy brunette renewed inspiration to trudge onward as quickly as possible.

"I don't see them anywhere!" Emily exclaimed above the howling wind, holding her hat on her head. "Do you think they got in some sort of trouble?"

"Don't worry, they're fine!" Daisy shouted back. Considering the fact that her cousin had gone through the woods and back without a scratch, Daisy was quite certain his journey on an established road would seem like a walk in the park in comparison, especially since he had been given a break from carrying Tommy.

I hope you're right!" Emily shouted in reply, still not able to see anything other than the swirling snow made visible by the flashlight Daisy carried. "Are we close to your house now?"

Daisy simply nodded, wanting to concentrate on the task of moving ahead once again. Now knowing that the house wasn't far away seemed to make Emily every bit as determined to trudge forward herself. In reality, had this been normal weather, the ladies would have made it there in three, maybe five minutes at most. But a blizzard, in Hazzard County, wasn't normal in any way.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Four hours?" Luke asked in disbelief. "Jesse, does that seem right to you? I mean, Travis' place ain't no more than a mile and a half away from here."

"Can't really say." Jesse replied. "I ain't never dealt with nothin' like this before, well, I mean, not since I's a kid. And even then, we wadn't dealin' with no search and rescue mission."

"Snow's pretty deep out there, Luke." Doc Appleby added. "Think back to your Marine days and how it felt to march in place. You had to get your knees pretty high. Now imagine doing that, 'cept there's molasses on the floor that sticks to your feet and a seventy-five pound backpack on your back. I think that'd pretty much sum up how Bo, at least, is doin' out there, carrying Tommy and digging his feet out of the snow. May be a bit to premature to panic all things considered."

"I hope you're right." Luke replied, looking at the doctor while holding on to his doubts. Rising from the couch as best as he could, he began to hobble toward the kitchen.

"Where you goin'?" Uncle Jesse asked.

Not very far, Luke quickly decided, when the slight, steady nausea he had been feeling decided to declare a full scale attack. As he grabbed onto the side of the couch and began to cough in a way that indicated sickness was near, Jesse swiftly plucked up the small garbage can from the corner of the living room and made it to his nephew just in time.

When the episode had finished, Luke placed one hand on his stomach that was rolling with pain as Jesse and the doc assisted him back to the couch, where he was made to lay down this time.

"I'll git you a washcloth, Luke." Uncle Jesse announced, seeing the sweat that had broke out on Luke's forehead as a result of his unpleasant exertion. As he hurried to the bathroom, Doc Appleby pulled out his stethoscope with the intention of listening to Luke's abdomen, blowing on it in order to warm it up.

"What do you think's the matter doc?" Luke asked, not afraid to appear anxious since his relatives weren't around to witness it.

"Well Luke, my guess is that it's one of two things. Either you're havin' a bad reaction to that pain medicine I gave you, or you've chosen about the worst time imaginable to pick up on that stomach virus that's been going around. If that's the case, it's liable to be mighty painful for you with that busted rib, as far as the vomiting is concerned."

As Jesse returned with the washcloth and the doctor began his second examination, the three men heard an unmistakable thump against the back door. Taking only a moment to look at each other, Jesse and Homer raced for the kitchen where Jesse wasted no time getting that door open.

Seeing two forms standing there, Jesse practically pulled them inside before he quickly pushed down the hood on a familiar blue coat.

"Daisy." Jesse whispered as his niece collapsed in his arms.

"Let's get 'em to the fire, Jesse." Doc Appleby insisted as he attended to Emily who was in about the same condition as Daisy.

Jesse took two hopeful seconds to look past that door to the outside, where he assumed Bo and Tommy would emerge any moment. But not seeing anyone, he had no choice but to go ahead and close up. Heat was a current luxury they couldn't afford to waste.

"Daisy." Luke said with a relieved grin upon seeing his cousin enter the living room. Too weak from the recent vomiting spell to move quickly just yet, he resigned to be satisfied in the brief moment he clasped her gloved hand as she was escorted as close to the fireplace as she could get.

"I want you to lay her down there, Jesse, and start taking off all her clothes that's wet. And considering how long they've been out there, I'd say that's gonna be everything."

"Everything?" Jesse asked in astonishment as he removed Daisy's shoes and listened to her moan.

"Everything." The doctor insisted as he himself worked on unbuttoning Emily's coat.

After getting Daisy's shoes off and rubbing a little warmth into them, Jesse decided to ignore the dire situation long enough to at least grab a couple of blankets off of his bed to offer the women some modesty in the process. Covering them up, the two men commenced to removing all of the wet garments underneath the blanket which, as Doc Appleby assumed, included their undergarments.

"Not too hot, Jesse." Doc Appleby instructed as Jesse then commenced to picking up the coffee pot that sat close to the fire and pouring out two cups.

"Don't worry, it ain't." Jesse replied in all honesty of the liquid that seemed, at least to him, lukewarm at best. Handing one of the cups off to the doctor, he turned back to his niece and saw that Luke had ejected himself from the couch long enough to push a pillow under Daisy's head, an act he would have scolded him for had he not realized how anxious Luke was to do something for Daisy himself.

"C'mon girl." Jesse began, snaking an arm under her neck to prop her up for the drink. "Take some of this, it'll do you good."

"Cold….Jesse…..Tired." Daisy managed through trembling lips.

"This'll help ya warm up, then you can rest all ya want. C'mon now." Jesse insisted.

Reluctantly, Daisy opened her mouth and sipped the liquid. She hated coffee in general but was in no condition to argue taste preferences.

"Daisy…..Where's Bo?" Luke couldn't help but ask the nagging question that had been on his as Jesse's minds since the moment she had emerged from the wintry blackness.

"Should be along any time now." Daisy replied, her trembling finally beginning to ease up a bit. Can't be more than five minutes behind us." She added as she drifted off to sleep, unable to fight her drooping eyelids any longer.

Jesse laid her head back on the pillow. "I'm goin' to get some more blankets and some dry clothes." He muttered, looking at Luke. Getting up and going to his bedroom, he was sure his thoughts were the same as Luke's. Daisy had already been home 15 minutes.

Setting aside two extra blankets, Jesse had began to rummage in his closet for his largest shirt, which he figured would be the only thing in the Duke household that the pregnant Emily would be able to wear.

"Luke! Luke!" Jesse heard Homer exclaim.

Fearing that Luke was vomiting again, Jesse rushed out of his bedroom and toward the living room. Looking first toward Daisy then toward the couch, he noticed that Luke wasn't in the room. And as a matter of fact, neither was Homer.

That was because the doctor was standing at the opened back door, shouting Luke's name out into the stormy night!

_**Ya know, we'd just be lyin' to ourselves if we said we didn't see that one comin'.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_(A/N Sorry about the delay folks. Every now and then I have an idea for a chapter that looks a lot better in my mind than it does on paper, and this is one of them. I'm not completely happy with the turnout but I'm ready to be done with it, so here it is. I hope you like it better than I do. Oh yes...and please be forgiving if Doc Appleby seems to be a quack, remember in this story he received his degree from the H.G. Stewart School of Medicine, and considering the fact, I certainly wouldn't recommend him!)_

Luke quickly decided that it may have been wise to grab more than his oversized coat on the way out, but with the doctor and now Jesse both standing at the back door shouting out his name, he realized a quick exit was the only type in which he would have achieved success.

But victory in that success seemed far-fetched. The faint stream of light offered by the same flashlight Daisy had used was no longer sufficient as the batteries were practically gone. And digging a single good foot out of the snow with the thin support of a crutch that had seen the Dukes through several leg ailments was going to prove next to impossible, despite the extra energy he had obtained from his adrenaline rush.

And, as if his body had chose that moment to put the sense in him that his brain had failed to, his stomach rolled with intense pain once again, enough so to bring the eldest Duke boy to his knees. As he offered a deep moan brought on by pain, frustration, and worry over the two still out in the storm, he felt someone come up behind him.

Two surprisingly strong arms gently lifted him back into a standing position. As Luke looked behind him, he noticed a second flashlight beam cutting through the darkness. With the light shining on him and his rescuer, he turned and saw that he had been brought to his feet by his own uncle.

"Jesse…" Luke managed. "You ain't got no sense bein' out here." He shouted above the wind, remembering Jesse's recent bought with bronchitis.

"And you do?" Jesse snarled. Without another word, he pulled Luke back toward the house, using the beam from the flashlight held by Homer Appleby as a guide.

Moments later, Luke found himself right back where he had started, lying on the couch in front of the fireplace. Offering Daisy a glance, he saw how she still shivered despite the fact that she had been in relative warmth for some time now. The fact made him even more worried about Bo and Tommy, the worry even outweighing the pain that fought for his attention.

"Fire's dying down, Jesse." Homer announced as uncle fussed over nephew. The doctor fought with Luke for access to his stomach as Luke instinctively went into the fetal position. "Try to calm down, Luke." He coaxed as he warmed the stethoscope once again that had never left his neck.

"For somebody that's supposed ta be so smart ya just passed tha stupid test with flyin' colors." Jesse muttered to Luke before he made his way to the back porch where the wood was kept. As he piled a few pieces into a crooked arm, he kept his frown of anger. Anger, he told himself, over Luke's stupidity. Jesse had decided firmly on anger, because it seemed a much easier emotion to deal with than fear. And with his niece still shivering uncontrollably, his nephew curled on the couch showing signs of a hidden illness, and another nephew seemingly lost in the raw elements of the raging blizzard, fear was an emotion that was fighting hard to take over.

By the time Jesse returned to the living room, he noticed that Homer had finally got Luke to settle down enough to be examined. Noticing the fresh sweat that had broken out on Luke's forehead and his rapid breathing, Jesse swallowed the lump in his throat long enough to throw fresh logs into the fire and poke them to life before he checked on Daisy once again. Finding her shivering in her sleep, he grabbed the oversized sweat suit he had found and turned his head as he dressed her. Then gathering her blanket around her, he pushed her a little closer to the fire before he turned to check on Emily, who seemed to doing better. She wasn't shivering anymore and actually showed some signs of coming around. Pleased that something seemed to be going right, he then turned to Homer who had wound the stethoscope around his neck again and was digging through his bag.

"Well, what is it Homer." Jesse managed to ask in a voice that sounded calmer than he felt. And his feelings didn't calm down any when he saw how anxious the doctor looked.

"Abdominal hemorrhaging." Homer replied, taking some items out of the bag before he began to assemble a syringe. He shook his head as Luke continued to breathe rapidly. "All this moving around most likely upset a hidden injury sustained in the fall. I'm going to have to go in and stop the bleeding."

"You mean…." Jesse asked in disbelief. "………that you're gonna hafta operate on Luke here and now?"

All Jesse received was a simple nod as the doctor began to fill the syringe.

"I don't wanna go no more, Bo!" Tommy wailed, clutching his teddy bear, Comet, close to him. "That scared me when you nearly died."

"I didn't die, Tommy." Bo reminded him, trying to keep a calm voice despite the frustration he felt. "I just got my coat all tore up on that dang mailbox. That tree didn't even hit me!"

"But it almost did." Tommy replied hiding his mouth and nose behind Comet.

Bo chose simply not to reply, because if he had he probably would have yelled at the kid expelling frustration that had been building up for some time now. And Bo certainly didn't need any more stress. Although the storm was starting to let up, the snow in which he now trudged, there on the road between the jeep and the farm, was deeper than ever. And he felt strange. Almost all of his body seemed numb except for his head, which seemed to want to pound in agony one moment and disconnect itself entirely from his body the next. He was almost at point of exhaustion in which he could easily fall on the ground and dismiss any care of dying, and probably would have had it not been for the young man clinging to his back.

"Bo! There it is! There's your house!" Tommy squealed pushing Bo's hat over his eyes once again in excitement.

Bo simply moved Tommy's hands again and pushed the hat off his eyes. Peering through the darkness, he could make out a faint light shining out from the window. The rough conditions had hidden the fact that he was a lot closer than he had realized. As a matter of fact, he was only a few yards away from the door.

It was then that he collapsed on the ground. It was if his body had decided that it was no longer required to go on now that the possibility for help existed. Bo landed softly on the snow, receiving the brunt blow from Tommy, who came down on top of him. 'Not now, Duke.' He muttered to himself, realizing that until they were actually inside the house, neither he nor Tommy could be considered safe. But despite the verbal demands he gave himself to get up, his body had decided it was on strike.

"Bo! Don't die now! We're almost there!" Tommy wailed.

"I ain't dyin', Tommy." Bo argued. "Just…..just tuckered. Hunt somethin' to throw at the window, maybe it'll get Jesse's attention."

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Anything you see, a small rock, a stick, just look for somethin'" Bo replied as he felt himself getting light headed again.

Tommy looked around but all he saw was snow. Scooping some up in his mittens, he patted the white powder into a round snowball. Turning toward the house, he thrust the ball, and came up short.

After about 5 more snowballs, Tommy decided that he wasn't going to have any luck. "I can't do it Bo." He said, getting seemingly colder by the minute now that they weren't moving any more. Not receiving a response, he put his hand on his friend's face and felt Bo's eyes were closed. "No Bo! Please, please get up!"

When Bo didn't respond, Tommy found energy he didn't even know he had. Using his arms, he climbed off Bo's back and tucked Comet close to the Duke boy's face. Using those arms and the amazing strength that seemed to be in them, he then began to haul himself to the back door.

"You sure about this Homer?" Jesse asked nervously, steadying Luke's head in his hands as the doctor quickly shaved his stomach.

"Ain't sure about anything, Jesse, 'cept there's a good chance we could lose him if something isn't done." Homer Appleby replied. "We ain't workin' in the best conditions, but we'll have to make do with what we have. One thing in our favor is that I restocked my bag last night. I have enough stuff that I can dull the pain quite a bit, but we'll have to use most everything I have. Might end up in a bind if it's needed somewhere else."

"You just do whatcha gotta do for Luke and we'll deal with that other stuff when it comes up." Jesse insisted.

Nodding his head, Homer gave Luke the first of two injections. The syringe had barely left his arm when that familiar bump against the back door was heard once again.

"Bo!" Jesse couldn't help but exclaim, leaping up and heading for the back door again. Making sure that Luke's injection was doing him good, Homer also risked a few seconds to check the back door as well.

"Tommy!" He exclaimed as Jesse picked the youngster off of the small mound of snow that had collected at the back door. Quickly carrying him to the fire, they began to remove his wet clothes.

"Oh Uncle Jesse! Bo's dead!" Tommy wailed.

"What?" Jesse whispered as his heart pounded in his chest.

Seeing the elder Duke's condition, Homer decided to take the time to clarify the situation. "Tommy, where's Bo?"

"In the snow." Tommy sniffed. "Just outside the door. I left Comet to take care of him but I think he's already dead." The youngster wailed.

"Tommy?" A female voice asked. The three turned and saw that the sound of her nephew's voice had brought Emily around.

"Oh Aunt Emily!" Tommy exclaimed as the woman pulled him close to her and gave him a hug.

Now that they were free, Homer and Jesse flew out of the back door, taking no time for coats and only a second with the flashlight that had been of use in finding Luke. As Tommy had stated, they found Bo, laying just a few feet from the door.

"Bo." Jesse whispered, running over to and falling to his knees beside Bo and cradling his head in his hands.

Homer wasted only a second pressing his fingers to the side of Bo's neck. "He's alive, Jesse. Let's get him in the house. Hurry." The doctor commanded.

Jesse felt apparent relief as they turned Bo and he lifted his nephew's legs while the doctor wound his arms around Bo's chest. On the count of three, they lifted him up and carried him into the house, laying him in the space that Emily had managed to vacate upon learning of Bo's fate.

"Check him out Homer, let's make sure the boy's alright." Jesse insisted, pulling on Bo's coat.

"No Jesse." The doctor replied. "I know you're worried about Bo but it's vital we attend to Luke right now. Emily….." He began, turning toward the pregnant woman. "I know you've been through an ordeal yourself, but I need you to get these boys undressed and close to the fire. Jesse, get over next to Luke and keep him steady and calm. I'll need him to be as still as possible while I perform the procedure."

Jesse simply nodded as he observed the scene around him in amazement. He wanted to do nothing more that wrap his arms around Bo and Daisy and even Tommy and will the chill away from them. But at the same time he couldn't imagine tearing himself away from Luke as he was reminded of the terrifying circumstances that lay ahead of his eldest nephew.

So as Homer administered the final injection, Jesse wiped the sweat from Luke's forehead with one hand and rubbed his arm soothingly with the other. As Luke began to show signs of relaxing, Jesse instinctively looked toward Emily to make sure she was doing her job. Somewhere in the excitement, the young woman had found the oversized shirt and pants that Jesse had laid aside for her and had slipped them on before she commenced to undressing first Tommy, then Bo.

"He's about as out as he's gonna get, Jesse." Homer announced, loading a sterile blade into the small scalpel from his black bag that barely saw use. "Gonna need some more light."

Almost in a daze, Jesse nodded and went for the oil lantern that sat on the fireplace mantle. Reaching up for it, he was startled to hear Emily shriek below him.

Focusing his attention on the woman, who had been undressing Bo, he lowered the lantern and let out a gasp of his own.

For there, on Bo's own abdomen, was a mysterious jagged cut, from which blood was flowing freely!

_**Next time you're stuck in a storm and complainin' because there ain't no excitement, just think about the kind ole' Jesse's havin' to deal with.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Having been laid next to the fire and having some of his wet, cold clothes discarded, Bo began to come around, despite the fact that he looked more exhausted that Jesse could ever remember seeing him.

"Tommy?" Bo questioned, barely above a whisper as he forced his eyes opened and scanned the room.

"He's right here, Mr. Duke." Emily replied, moving over toward her nephew who lay right next to Bo.

Lifting his head, Bo gazed at his young friend and managed a small smile. "Hey kiddo, how ya doin'?"

"Comet's still outside." Tommy replied with a trembling lip.

"I'll get him, honey." Emily assured her nephew while trying to keep him from seeing Bo's present condition. Turning to Bo she added. "He's chilled but he seems to be doing okay."

Bo had figured that much out for himself when Tommy revealed that his biggest concern was a teddy bear. Content that his young charge was safe, Bo's eyelids fluttered as he began to welcome sleep once more.

"Homer!" Jesse called out, the tone of his voice forcing Bo's eyes open once more as the Duke patriarch knelt down next to his nephew.

Casting a worried glance toward Luke, Doc Appleby nevertheless dared to leave him a second time as he moved over toward Jesse. Seeing the wound on Bo's stomach, the doctor quickly plucked up a towel that had been brought in to use on Luke and handed it to Jesse. "Wipe him down, Jesse, let's see how bad it is." The doctor said with concern.. "Bo, I know it's hard, but try to stay awake."

"What happened to ya?" Jesse asked, wiping Bo as quickly but as gently as possible, curious about the answer but realizing an explanation would help to keep his nephew awake.

"What do you mean?" Bo asked even as the cold melted away from his skin enough to make him aware of a painful area in his abdomen. Gingerly touching it, he lifted his hand and stared blankly at the blood on his fingertips.

"He fell on an old mailbox." Tommy offered, propping up and seeing Bo despite Emily's efforts. With tears in his eyes, he said…… "He didn't tell me he's hurt, just said his coat got tore up."

"Probably didn't feel it, Tommy." Doc Appleby replied as he took a closer look at Bo. "Too cold." He added, gently pushing the youngster back down.

"Bo, Doc said stay awake!" Jesse commanded as Bo began to slip away again. At the same time, a moan from the couch reminded the two older men that they now had a double emergency to deal with.

"I simply must attend to Luke." Doc Appleby announced, seemingly disgusted that he couldn't be in two places at once. Going over to his bag, he extracted more items before handing them to his friend. "Wound looks pretty deep Jesse. Better close it up before he loses any more blood. Emily, I'm going to need you help over here."

As the young woman moved to assist the doctor, Jesse looked in his hand. Arching an eyebrow, he saw that he had been given the supplies needed to administer stitches!

"Just like you do with those heifers, Jesse." Doc Appleby said, receiving a nod from his friend. Satisfied that Jesse seemed confident in what he was about to do, he turned back to Luke.

Despite the fact that Luke had been given extreme amounts of pain killers, there just weren't any resources to completely dull the pain. And when scalpel met flesh, Doc Appleby cringed when Luke stiffened and cried out in pain, even in his drug induced sleep. Even so, the doctor realized he had no choice but to continue as he instructed Emily to do whatever she could to keep Luke as calm as possible.

"What was that, Uncle Jesse?" Bo, having been brought out of his near-slumber once more, managed to ask. As Jesse forced himself to concentrate on his own job, Bo's eyes widened when he saw what was in his hands. "You ain't doin' what I think you're doin', are you?"

"Ain't got no choice, boy." Jesse replied, positioning a second oil lamp next to Bo before poking at the fire so that it roared, giving the room a little more light. "'Fraid there ain't nothin' for the pain, but even so I'm gonna need you to lay there still as possible, okay?"

"I really don't see no need for that. I'm sure it'll mend on it's own." Bo managed, unconsciously putting his hand over the wound.

"Yeah, well the amount of blood on yer coat and shirt and my livin' room floor tells me different. Now I know ya hate needles, Bo, but it' necessary. Ain't no discussion to have."

"But Uncle Jesse…." Bo replied, barely above a whisper. "I'm……..."

"Just like I was." Tommy announced.

"What?" Bo asked, looking at the boy who propped up on his elbows.

"You're scared, just like I was." Tommy repeated. "I's afraid to go out in the storm after you come and got me and Aunt Emily. But then you told me that courage wasn't not bein' scared, but to do what you's scared of 'cause it was important. And I'm glad I listened to ya. Otherwise I might have been layin' dead up in Uncle Travis's cabin right now, since it caved in and all."

"You're probably right. I'm proud of you for being brave, Tommy." Bo replied as he managed to pat the youngster on the arm, both of them cringing when Luke cried out loudly once again.

"Well now it's time for you to be brave, Bo. Accordin' to Uncle Jesse and the Doc, the bleedin' ain't gonna stop unless you have them stitches, so I want you to have them 'cause I don't want you to die. And since you was right there with me the whole time I was out in the storm, I'm gonna be right here with you." He insisted, showing maturity beyond his years as he grasped Bo's hand with his own still-gloved one.

Uncle Jesse dabbed at his nephew's stomach one more time as Bo began to lose consciousness once again, despite how anxious he felt. "We gotta get goin' on this 'fore we lose ya." Jesse announced in a no-nonsense manner. "Tommy, you hold on good and tight, ya hear?"

"I hear, Uncle Jesse." Tommy replied holding Bo's hand as tightly as he could.

Watching as Jesse lowered his hands Bo bit his lip and lay his head back, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the inevitable. When the first stitch was administered, he stiffened in pain, and a cry sounded out in the room. Only it hadn't come from Bo's lips. Opening his eyes, he saw Jesse turn his head toward Luke, who offered Doc Appleby and Emily a weak fight as he lay on the couch.

"Dagnabbit, Emily, keep him still! Or else I'm going to end up cutting something that don't need cutting!" Doc Appleby commanded, using a voice reserved for the harshest of circumstances, which fit the occasion perfectly.

"Luke, you lay still for the doc, ya hear? Or I'm gonna take a switch to ya." Uncle Jesse hollered even as he worried. Of course Bo knew Jesse would never do such a thing, but there was always something about his threats that managed to calm Luke down. And although the order did little to prevent the occasional moan, Luke did indeed manage to lay more still.

Turning back to Bo, Jesse continued his work. Deciding Luke was a big enough worry, Bo decided to offer as little trouble as possible by letting Jesse do what he needed to do without complaint and not squeezing little Tommy's hand until his fingers broke. Opting to lay down and shut his eyes, he never noticed the haunted look in his Uncle's, who worried tremendously over the fact that Bo was awake, fighting sleep, while Luke was asleep, fighting to wake.

"Okay, it's done. I'm gonna close him up now." Doc Appleby announced about an hour later, taking out a second set of sewing instruments. Administering the first stitch, it didn't take him long to figure out that Luke wasn't any better at being sewn up than Bo was. Even while he sewed, the effects of Luke's drugs began to wear off. Thrashing around, he even caught Emily who knelt behind him, sending her tumbling to the floor!

"You alright Emily?" Doc Appleby asked with concern.

"Yes Doctor. I'm okay." She replied, getting back on her knees.

Nodding, he turned to Luke's incision and a pleased smile appeared on his face. "Good clean incision here, Jesse. Despite our primitive conditions, I'd say it went very well."

"Well how 'bout Bo here?" Jesse asked, allowing only a bit of relief to overwhelm him at hearing the good news concerning Luke.

As the doctor looked at the stitches, he nodded. "Couldn't 'ave done any better myself, Jesse. You were a good helper, Tommy." He added, looking at the young boy.

"You think the boy's 'ill be alright now?" Jesse asked.

"Well, they've both lost a lot of blood, and they'll probably be weak for awhile. And although I can't make any promises, if I were a betting man, I'd say the worst part of this whole blizzard is behind us."

"Doctor?"

Both Jesse and Doc Appleby turned to the source of that voice. Seeing that the one word question had come from Emily, they found no need to ask what it was that she needed……not when they spotted a pool of water on the floor beneath her!

_**I don't know about ya'll, but I'm startin' to run out of things that can go wrong.**_


	8. Chapter 8

Just the sight of the water suddenly made Doc Appleby feel about five times more fatigued than he had been beforehand. Glancing at the living room window and noticing a faint light that suggested dawn was near, he asked. "Have you been having any contractions, Emily?"

"I think I've had two. One with this….." She trailed off as her eyes remained focused on the puddle as if she were amazed by its existence. "……and another one earlier, maybe about twenty minutes ago."

"Are you sure it's been twenty minutes?" Doc Appleby asked.

Emily nodded. "It was before you ever sewed Luke up, so it had to be at least that long."

A small smile formed on Doc Appleby's lips. "Then you've got a while to go yet." Turning to Jesse, he then announced. "Jesse, I know it's been a trying night for both of us, but if I'm going to deliver a baby, I simply have to get some sleep. You think you can handle things alone for a little while?"

"Of course, Homer. You go on and use my bed, extra blankets are on the top shelf in the closet." Jesse informed him even as he stifled a yawn, having no doubt that he could handle things despite his fatigue.

Doc Appleby nodded his appreciation. "You just go on as you normally would, Emily. If those contractions get faster, start timing them. If they get four minutes apart, have someone wake me."

"Doctor?"

"Yes?" Doc Appleby asked.

"I'm…..well…….that is………" She began as tears welled in her eyes. "I never planned on having natural childbirth."

Doc Appleby laid a hand on her shoulder. "Just take comfort in knowing that it happens somewhere every day. Try not to get too upset, and take deep, short breaths whenever the pains hit. I'll get back to you just as soon as I can, but try not to worry. Jesse Duke there is known to have brought a youngin' or two in the world in his day."

When she noticed that Tommy was watching her, Emily took a deep, calming breath and put on a brave face for him as well as Doc Appleby. Satisfied that she at least seemed comforted for the time being, he offered her a smile before he retreated to Jesse's bedroom, where he closed the door.

"Uh, I believe Luke might have a clean pair of sweat pants in his closet, if you wanna change." Jesse suggested. He doubted Emily would be able to pull the waistline over her stomach, but anything dry and warm had to be better than what she was wearing, even if they weren't exactly comfortable.

"Thank you, Mr. Duke. I'm sorry about all this. I'm so embarrassed." Emily admitted, although she realized that the embarrassment of wet pants would probably pale in comparison to the embarrassment she would be feeling later in the day.

Jesse smiled, knowing more about her thoughts than she realized. "Ain't nothin' to be embarrassed about. Ain't none of it gonna mean nothin' to you after yer holdin' that youngin' of yours in your arms."

Emily visibly relaxed and offered Jesse a smile. She didn't know other people's take on the elderly dirt farmer, but he certainly seemed to have a knack for knowing the right thing to say. Inquiring on which room was Luke's, she then headed there to seek out some new clothes.

Turning his attention back to his kids, Jesse panicked a bit when he saw that Bo had finally succumbed to his exhaustion, worried he had lost too much blood to return from the slumber that had claimed him. Trying to rouse his nephew, the only response he got was deep snoring despite his vigorous shaking and shouting. Not getting a response, and seeing that Tommy failed to respond despite the fact that he was laid up against Bo, he reluctantly assumed that both were exhausted and that explained the reason why they refused to rouse. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, he uttered a drawn out prayer of hope for the entire situation before he moved away from Bo, hoping that his decision to let him sleep wasn't the wrong one.

But his efforts had not totally been in vain, because it was when he had stopped shouting and moved away that he noticed Daisy began to stir. Moving over to her, he rubbed his hand on her forehead and spoke softly to her, urging her to wake up.

"Uncle Jesse?" She mumbled, offering a view of her eyes through narrow slits as she focused on him.

"Right here, girl." Jesse smiled. "Glad to see ya awake. I sure was worried about you."

Looking at the window and noticing that things were getting light enough outside to identify the outlines of objects, she stretched a bit and slowly rose to a sitting position with her Uncle's assistance. Despite the fact that she was sitting right in front of the fireplace and was as warm as she could get in the limited conditions, she began to tremble..

"What's wrong, you still cold?" Jesse asked with concern.

"Don't know if it's that or just bad memories." She replied, pulling the blanket around her. "Did Bo get back okay?"

"Yeah, he's right behind me." Jesse replied, shifting to the side as he had been obstructing his niece's view. He started to explain to Daisy about Bo's tangle with the mailbox but was interrupted when Luke began to wake.

"Where's Bo?" Luke asked, instinctively grabbing at his side even as he raised up and began scanning the room.

"Relax, just relax. He's here, layin' over by the fire, asleep." Jesse assured him, pushing Luke back down as a stream of blood escaped from his incision. "Try not to touch that." He then insisted as he took the gauze and tape that Doc Appleby had laid aside and began dressing the wound, the final act that had been forgotten when Emily's water had broke.

"He doin' alright now? You manage to get the bleeding stopped?" Luke then asked.

Jesse looked at him in amazement. "How'd you know?"

"I heard it all. Heard it during……………" Luke trailed off.

Jesse cringed when he thought of what Luke had been going through in his drug induced haze. "That must have been horrible for you, Luke, but we didn't have a choice."

Luke knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to talk much more about his emergency surgery. Willing the memories of his own ordeal away from his mind, he asked again. "Is the bleeding stopped?"

"Um yeah." Jesse nodded. And even though his intellectual mind told him that Luke and Daisy didn't need any more to worry about after what they had went through, he couldn't help but add. "I'm worried though, seems he lost a lot of blood……….and you have too, Luke."

Seeing Daisy's curious expression, Jesse realized an explanation was in order. After explaining the overnight events to her, he frowned in confusion as the sound of a vehicle was heard outside.

But that frown turned into a look of delight when he went to the window and saw Cooter's tow truck slowly inching its way to the farm, chains wrapped around the tires.

"Cooter!" He yelled out, although there was no way the mechanic could hear him yet. Wasting no time, he went out the back door and met the mechanic as he rolled toward the door.

"Hey Uncle Jesse!" Cooter laughed. "You better tell them boys of yours to get up and come on. Slidin' around in that Georgia red clay ain't nothing compared to the ride you can take on top of 23 inches of this white stuff."

But seeing Jesse's anxious expression, he immediately switched the mode to serious. "What's wrong?"

"Cooter, both the boys got hurt last night. You think there's any way you can get 'em over to Tri-County in this thing?"

"Well I can sure try." Cooter replied, getting out and slamming the door. "How bad off are they?"

"Well they're in pretty good shape for now. Homer's here and I've been helpin' him with the doctorin' but they've both lost a lot of blood and it worries me, especially Bo. Just can't seem to get him ta stir."

"Well just lead the way." Cooter replied.

As soon as they entered the house, Emily had exited the bedroom and set her sights on the new face. "Oh thank heaven!" She exclaimed, rushing over to hug Cooter. "Are you here to take me to the hospital?"

Cooter shot Jesse a confused look as the elder Duke ran for his own bedroom. Opening the door, he startled the doctor who had barely drifted off to sleep.

"Homer, Cooter's here, thinks he might can get the boys over to Tri-County. Think it'd be alright for them to travel?"

"Normally I would say no, but with all things considered, I think getting there is in their best interest." The doctor confirmed, climbing out of bed fully clothed as it had been too cold to undress. Grabbing the blanket he had put on Jesse's bed, he dragged it to the living room and began to wrap it around Bo, trying to wake him.

"Bo! Bo wake up. Cooter's here, he's gonna get you to the hospital." Doc Appleby said.

As Emily watched, Jesse emerged from the bedroom again as well, bringing yet another blanket that he began to wrap around Luke.

"Me, I need to go too!" Emily said.

Doc Appleby shook his head. "I'm afraid there isn't enough room, young lady. These boys have both had a hard time and it wouldn't do either of 'em good to be packed in like sardines."

"Well I can drive them, please." Emily replied.

"Can you drive a stick shift?" Cooter asked.

When Emily shook her head no, looking on the verge of panic, he replied. "Well I'll tell you what. I'll go ahead and take these boys, and as soon as I get 'em settled, I'll come back for you."

"I've got a better idea." Emily said nervously, spying the chair that Jesse had pulled toward the cabinets to fetch her key the night before. Climbing up on it, she swiftly pulled the gun from Jesse's rack and pointed it at Cooter!"

"You can take me now……….and come back for Bo and Luke later!"

_**I don't know about ya'll, but if a woman in labor was pointing a gun at me, I'd do what she said.**_


	9. Chapter 9

"Now just hang on a minute, lady." Uncle Jesse began in a tone that described his displeasure without the need for words. "If my kids hadn't ah risked their lives goin' out in that storm after you, you'd be deliverin' that baby into the hands of an eight-year old boy on the cold wood floor of a broken down cabin. Yet they got ya, brought ya back here, where we've warmed ya and took care of ya. Then when Bo, especially, gets a chance to go to the hospital to be treated for an injury he sustained while comin' to your rescue, you'd deny him that right?"

Emily took on a look of empathy before a strong contraction hit. Doubling over in pain, she dropped the gun as Cooter caught her, preventing a nasty fall from the chair where she stood.

As Cooter sat her in the chair where she waited out the pain, Jesse marched over and picked the gun up off the floor. "'Fore you think about somethin' like that again, you might wanna consider this: I don't keep this gun loaded, not with youngin's like your nephew Tommy comin' in and out from tha camp all tha time."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Duke." Emily apologized when she was finally able to catch her breath. "I certainly didn't plan that out, it's just….well…..the idea of having this baby outside a hospital setting scares me to death. While it's true that I'm not much for pain, my mother had me out in the country in a little farmhouse just like this one……and she ran into complications and died the same day."

The revelation did allow Jesse to calm a little. At least her behavior has a somewhat logical explanation.

"Emily," Doc Appleby began. "…..death in childbirth is very rare. Statistically speaking, these boys have a better chance of developing complications from their injuries than you have of developing serious complications during your delivery, at least the type that I would be unable to assist you with. Put your faith in me and I'll do all I can to keep you comfortable. In the meantime, I'm sure Cooter here will do all he can to get back here as soon as possible and pick you up, won't you Cooter?"

"Of course I will." Cooter replied, giving Emily a reassuring pat on the shoulder in an effort to help make her threat a one time incident.

While all that was going on, Daisy had successfully managed to wake Bo. Everyone's attention was brought back to the boys as the younger Duke groaned in response to the pain brought on by his effort to sit up.

"I'll go git the truck turned around." Cooter replied, turning to the door and running out of the house.

About five minutes later, he had succeeded in getting the truck pointed back toward town. Turning the knob on the heater to high, he knew that it was too cold to completely eliminate the chill in the air. Even so, he guessed that it would be warmer than it had been in the house, despite the fact that the fire had roared non-stop.

By the time he went back inside, his two best friends were on their feet, wrapped in their coats with the blankets over the top. Anyone who didn't know them any better would never see the pain that showed through their eyes, hidden behind the brave faces they had put on for their family. But Cooter wasn't just anybody, and vowed to himself that he would make the trip as comfortable as possible for them even if it meant cutting into the time that he would spend rushing back to pick up Emily. After all, she was in good hands with Doc Appleby.

About ten minutes later, Bo was secured in the seldom used belt of the middle seat while Luke sat next to him on the passenger's side. After spreading three blankets across the top of them and approving the interior temperature of the cab by testing it with his bare hand, Uncle Jesse finally seemed content to let them go. But before he sent them on their way, he ran back into the house, returning with a small bottle which he handed to Cooter.

"Just a little shine." Jesse explained. "In case they have a lot of pain."

"Yes sir." Cooter replied.

"You boys take care, ya hear?" Jesse commanded as he first pat Bo's cheek, then Luke's as he didn't want to cause additional pain with any hugs. "Whatever them doctors at Tri-County wanna do, you let 'em do it. Don't worry about no pain or no bills. What's important is ya both git better."

"Yes sir." Bo replied as Luke simply offered a weak nod. After Jesse backed up, he did one of the hardest things he ever had to do; he closed the door of the truck and waived Cooter on toward the hospital while he waited behind with absolutely no way of following. As the truck slowly rolled away, he watched for a few moments before he turned to look at Homer, wondering if the doctor would come to dread having him as a housemate as he pondered the fate of Bo and Luke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From where the Duke farm was located, there were two ways one could take when the destination was Tri-County Hospital; Apple Valley Rd and Razorback Ridge Rd. Under normal conditions, anyone would take Apple Valley Rd. Although by distance the Valley Road was five miles longer, it was also wider and consisted of more straight stretches, allowing for some real speed that would actually make the trip itself faster. However, two feet of snow in Hazzard County was about as far away from normal as one could get, and in a situation where the speed would remain consistent no matter which road was taken, it only made sense for Cooter to turn onto Razorback.

"You two alright?" Cooter asked as he drove along as quickly as his comfort level would allow, looking back and forth from the road to his two friends.

"Yeah." Luke managed although he had his eyes closed and his head wobbled against Bo's shoulder as they hit ruts in the road. Bringing his attention to Bo, who rested his own head on top of Luke's, Cooter saw that the blond offered a nod. While the mechanicr was concerned with keeping them somewhat comfortable, in reality, his main concern was keeping them awake considering the amount of blood each of them had supposedly lost.

"Hey ya'll, I bet this would be a really good day for deer huntin'. Bet you could spot 'em a mile away." Cooter rattled off as they wound along the steep mountain grade, looking down into the valley on his side. "Bet their havin' a hard time findin' food, too. Probably get 'em to eat right out of your hand. I tell ya, just havin' cold weather like this is enough to make me crave a good pot of venison stew like Uncle Jesse makes. How 'bout you, Bo?"

As Cooter hit a fairly deep rut in the road, Bo let out a small groan. While it wasn't the response Cooter had hoped for, at least it was a response. As bad as the situation was, facing it with friends who wouldn't respond would make it much, much worse.

"Sorry Bo. I'm trying to take it easy." Cooter offered.

"Well you didn't hear……….me complainin' did ya?" Bo shot back with some hostility, as most people in pain such as his would.

"Knock it off, Bo. Cooter's……….tryin' to help us." Luke reprimanded his cousin, never opening his eyes.

"Knock……what off? I didn't say nothin." Bo replied.

Normally Cooter would have stopped the argument by pointing out that he hadn't taken offense to Bo's reply. But if it took an argument to keep them awake, he wasn't about to put an end to it. As the mountain path grew steeper, the task of keeping the tow truck in line with the road took enough concentration without having to worry about the well being of his friends.

After about twenty minutes, Cooter estimated that he had made it about a mile up the mountain road. While there were a couple more miles to go before he would make it to Highway 76 that would lead him straight to Tri-County, at least he had cleared the most treacherous part of the road. Relaxing ever so slightly, he rounded the next corner...and came to an abrupt halt!

"Why'd you stop?" Luke asked as he squinted through the windshield against the brilliant white snow made even more brilliant by the fact they were now in a sunny patch.

Cooter didn't respond, but instead, got out of the truck and slammed the door. As Luke watched, the mechanic walked ahead and bent down in front of the truck. Getting up a second later, he frowned as he returned to the driver's seat.

"What's up?" Luke attempted again as Cooter took his hat off and rubbed his head.

"Tree across the road." Cooter replied with a laugh that contained no humor. "Son of a gun that was brilliant, Davenport. Busted pine trees all over the place and not an axe on ya and where do you go? Smack dab down the middle of a forest lane."

"Well, just turn it around……..and go the other way." Bo suggested as his head met Luke's shoulder this time around.

"Ain't nowhere to turn around." Cooter replied while shaking his head. "I'm gonna hafta back this thing all the way back down the mountain!"

**_I don't know 'bout no venison stew, but if one of them deer was ta come along about now, I'd be tempted to ride it back down instead._**


	10. Chapter 10

Back at the farm, Doc Appleby had returned to Jesse's bedroom for his second attempt at sleep. Daisy, noticing how worn Jesse appeared, encouraged him to take her bed for some rest as well. But the elderly man was so worried about the boys that he used the excuse of keeping an eye on Emily as a reason to stay awake.

"Uncle Jesse, you know perfectly well that I can keep an eye on Emily. Now you go on." She insisted.

"Ain't no need in it. I couldn't sleep if I went in there anyway." Jesse replied, looking out the window as if he expected something to materialize.

Daisy went behind him and put her hands on his right shoulder. "I'm sure the boys are fine. Cooter ain't never let us down yet."

"You're right, but I'd feel better if I knew what was goin' on." Jesse admitted.

"I'm sure there ain't nothin' goin' on yet. Even in good conditions they ain't had time to get to Tri-County."

Jesse looked out the window a moment longer before he allowed the curtain to drop back in place. "Maybe I can go out to tha truck or the General and use tha C.B."

"Jesse, the General's parked out in the barn and the truck's half buried in snow. Either way, you're gonna have to dig around the truck doors or the barn doors to get to a C.B. and their ain't no sense in doin' that until the boys have had time to get to the hospital."

Jesse started to reply when a movement near the fireplace caught his attention. He turned his head and saw Tommy stirring to life.

"Besides, if you're wanting a boy to worry about, that one right there can give you a run for your money." Daisy added, patting Jesse on the back. "I'm going to see what I can do about breakfast."

"You sure you're up to it?" Jesse asked.

"As much as anyone around here." Daisy replied, which wasn't saying a whole lot at that moment. But all things considered, eating was something everyone was going to have to do to keep up strength and maintain warmth, whether they felt like it or not.

"Uncle Jesse?" Tommy asked, stretching to life. "Where's Bo?"

"Oh don't you worry about him. He's in good hands." Jesse replied, hoping he sounded convincing despite his own doubts.

"What about Aunt Emily?" Tommy asked. "Did she ever go outside and get Comet?"

"Comet?" Jesse asked before he remembered who Comet was. "Oh, your bear. I'm sorry Tommy, I think he's still out there."

"He must be so cold." Tommy replied. "Oh Uncle Jesse, I just gotta have him!"

"Well son, it's snowed a lot and... well...he'll be alright."

"Oh please Uncle Jesse! He's not just any old bear. He's a velveteen bear, just like the velveteen rabbit in the storybooks. He's real."

Jesse sighed. Daisy had been right about Tommy. He could worry anyone to death.

"Alright. You just stay here and try to calm down and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Uncle Jesse." Tommy replied, giving him a hug.

Jesse returned the hug before he got up and went to the kitchen to retrieve his coat.

"Don't stay out too long, Uncle Jesse. Cold can get to you in a hurry." Daisy announced, having overheard the conversation.

"I won't." Jesse replied opening the door and bracing himself against the chill.

Grabbing the shovel that sat in the corner of the screened porch, Jesse proceeded outside to the area where they had found Bo. He only hoped that Comet hadn't performed a Superman stunt on a wind gust to unknown destinations. As he began to dig, he heard the sound of braying and pounding against the barn door.

"Dagnabbit!" Jesse exclaimed, realizing that with everything else that was going on, he had forgotten about his beloved old mule. Looking toward the barn, he saw that the area the boys had been patching the night before had gave way. He imagined that the mule must be terrified and confused having been locked in a cold dark barn with an unfamiliar white substance, and hours past the time she normally received her oats.

Using the shovel as a walking stick, Jesse pushed his hat on his head and made his way to the barn, glad that the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds.

"Alright Maudine! Jist calm down, I'm coming!" Jesse exclaimed as the kicking against the door continued. Upon hearing her master's voice, Maudine did seem to calm down. At least the kicking stopped.

That is, until Jesse laid the shovel aside and raised the old two by four that kept the doors in place when they were closed. No sooner had he lifted it than Maudine kicked again. The act sent the door flying toward Jesse, throwing him into the snow and claiming his consciousness!

XXXXXXXX

"Bo, Bo you still with me ain't ya buddy?" Cooter asked as he backed down Razorback Ridge Rd, swallowing when the truck skidded ever so slightly before responding to his tapping of the brakes.

"Dang it Cooter would ya quit askin' me that?" Bo asked in annoyance as his head wobbled against Luke's shoulder. "I know I've lost blood but I only slept an hour or so last night."

"How 'bout you buddyro?" He then asked Luke.

"I'm with ya." Luke responded, both reassuring Cooter and agreeing with what Bo had said with three simple words.

As he hit another slippery patch, the truck went skidding again. Only this time, it didn't respond to the brakes. Trying desperately to get it under control, Cooter muttered "Hang on ya'll" as a small birch tree appeared in his rearview mirror.

With a thud, the birch tree cracked and toppled, but it had at least got them to stop. Puffing out his cheeks with a sigh of relief, Cooter looked at the boys who looked back at him with relieved expressions. Switching to drive, he moved forward onto the road before he switched back to reverse to continue the journey.

After a few more hazardous slides, Cooter could see Apple Valley Rd in the far distance. "It ain't gonna be long now, ya'll." He reassured his friends with obvious relief in his voice.

As he continued to back down, he could see a patrol car coming down Apple Valley Rd.

"Hey waddaya know! Seems ole' Rosco or Enos one managed to get some chains on their tires!" Cooter whooped in celebration. "Now we can get him to go back out to tha farm and pick up Emily."

As the patrol car neared Razorback Ridge Rd, it paused a moment before turning up, following Cooter's tracks.

"Breaker one breaker one, might be crazy but I ain't dumb, crazy Cooter hear calling the local Hazzard fuzz. Who've I got nibblin' on my tail feathers?"

"Hey there Cooter, this is deputy Enos Strait comin' back at cha." Enos replied, his million dollar smile evident in his voice. Saw ya tow truck up ahead and thought I'd follow ya. Thought they might be somebody in trouble."

"Well there is Enos, only they ain't off the road nowhere." Cooter replied. "Listen, I'm backin' up and you're gonna hafta do the same. They's an old tree across the road up ahead and ain't nobody gettin' by 'till somebody can get up here with an axe."

"Ten-four Cooter." Enos replied, putting his car in reverse.

"Just be careful." Cooter advised him. "This here road's might slippe-"

Cooter abruptly stopped when the tow truck hit ice again. Dropping the CB handle, he struggled to control the uncontrollable wrecker. The closer he got to Apple Valley Rd, the faster he got.

"Dang it move Enos!" He muttered as the gap closed between tow truck and patrol car, tempting Bo and Luke with enough curiosity to rouse out of their light sleep and look out the window behind them.

Enos was trying to move, but it wasn't fast enough. Looking behind him, he had no idea that the tow truck was coming toward him uncontrollably. That is, not until Cooter laid down on the horn, bringing his attention to the front.

By then it was too late. The tow truck slammed into the front of the patrol car, which didn't stay still when tires met yet another patch of ice.

As the boys arched their eyebrows in surprise, the patrol car was sent flying down Razorback Ridge Rd and across Apple Valley Rd, where it was submerged under the thin layer of ice atop Waldron Pond!

_**Folks, what we're lookin' at here is a case of a Strait in dire straits.**_


	11. Chapter 11

The three men in the tow truck were all horrified to see that the very thing that had stopped their wild descent was taking a rapid trip to the bottom of Waldron Pond. Before the blue lights of the patrol car had a chance to disappear below the surface, Cooter was out of the truck, stripping off as much as he could that would inhibit his ability to swim.

"Open the glove box and hand me that tool." Cooter demanded as he stripped down to his undershirt and jeans. Luke managed to open it and ejected the small hammer shaped tool with a point suitable for shattering automobile glass. The seconds had seemed like minutes as Cooter grabbed that tool and rushed for Waldron Pond.

But the curse of the Hazzard blizzard was on them again. Cooter's foot found a sizeable hole under the snow and he managed to twist- and sprain- his ankle.

He had barely come to rest on the snow when another hand was grabbing the glass tool from his. Cooter managed to ignore his throbbing ankle long enough to watch a determined, albeit weak, blond-haired Duke boy making his way to the pond.

But Bo never made it, because an equally determined brunette appeared behind him, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop.

"Bo are you outta your mind?" Luke exclaimed as Bo struggled to get out of his grasp as best he could.

"Don't be crazy, you ain't in no shape to go in there!" Cooter added.

"We can't just let him drown!" Bo insisted.

"I know but just hang on, maybe he'll come up." Luke hoped as they watched the pond, waiting for signs of life.

Deep down, Bo knew that an icy dive in his condition should be avoided at all costs, so reluctantly, he stood and waited, ready to dive nonetheless if the deputy stayed down much longer.

Just as Bo reached down to remove his boots in preparation of the winter swim, a wide brimmed black hat bobbed to the surface, where it floated for moments before a disturbance in the water appeared beside it, delivering the deputy who was spitting water from his mouth.

"Enos!" Cooter called out in relief as he used an old stump to pull himself to a standing position.

Taking a deep breath, Enos kicked away from the wreck and swam toward the bank. Climbing up, he began to shake uncontrollably.

"You alright?" Luke asked, just the sight of the deputy making him feel colder himself.

"W..w…w….will be when I get w..w…w…warm." Enos replied as Rosco showed up at the scene, having been patrolling the same areas as Enos.

Seeing the situation at hand, there was no need for questions. Rosco brought the patrol car to a stop and quickly jumped out. Running to the back, he opened the trunk where he ejected a blanket which he then went and wrapped around Enos' shoulders as he made his way toward the vehicles.

"Ain't you Dukes got no better sense than ta instigate a car chase in nearly two foot of snow?" Rosco scolded, drawing his own conclusions even as he wondered why any of them were out in such weather conditions in the first place.

Enos was simply shivering too much to offer an explanation, so Rosco led him on to the warm patrol car and placed him inside, turning up the heat. He then turned back to Bo and Luke and realized something was wrong when he saw, despite their youth and usual physical fitness, that even as a team they were struggling to assist Cooter back to the truck.

Putting away the handcuffs he had ejected, he rushed over to the trio. "What happened Cooter?" He asked, losing the superior attitude as he took over for Luke's who had been struggling under the weight of Cooter's right arm.

"I busted my ankle when I went to help Enos." Cooter explained as he grunted in pain. "There was a tree 'cross Razorback Road there so we was backin' down to get outta there and Enos pulled in behind us. Then we hit a dang patch of ice and slid down and knocked 'im back in the pond."

"Well what were ya'll doin' out here anyway?" He asked, turning to look at the Duke boys. "You two, especially, don't look too good."

"Well that's alright Rosco, you never was my type anyway." Luke managed to smirk.

"I's takin' them to the hospital." Cooter explained. "They both got hurt in separate accidents yesterday and need to be checked on."

"Looks like they're not the only ones who need checked on." Rosco replied, looking at Cooter's swelling ankle before casting a glace at Enos in the patrol car. "Listen, I want the three of you to get in the back seat of the patrol car and I'll get you all to the hospital just as fast as I can."

"No, Rosco." Bo said as they reached the patrol car and slid Cooter in the backseat. "I want….." He stopped to take a much needed breath. "I want you to get into Cooter's tow truck there and go back to the farm. There's a woman in labor back there and she needs to get to the hospital as well."

"But what about y'all?" Rosco asked, realizing that Cooter, who looked to be in the best condition out of the group, had a rather useless driving foot thanks to the busted ankle.

"I'm pretty sure I can get us there." Bo replied.

"Well honestly Bo, I'd have to disagree with you." Rosco replied as he looked at the young man.

"Rosco, either you can get in that tow truck over there………….. and go after her or I will." Bo insisted. "That woman is Tommy Vineyard's aunt, and if anything happens to that kid's family…….." He trailed off as he thought of his favorite youngster, his 'pet', the one who had grown on him.

"Bo, you know Jesse would tan your hide if he saw you comin' back to the farm." Cooter reminded him.

Bo was weak, but Rosco had experienced Duke stubbornness way too many times to know that he'd made his decision concerning Emily's rescue and there would be no changing it. "Keys are in the ignition." He advised. "Take it slow. And Enos, if it gets to where you can take over, I want ya to just as soon as you can. Ya hear?"

Trembling, Enos simply nodded as he grasped at his blanket even more tightly. Reluctantly, Rosco stepped away from his own patrol car, made his way to the tow truck, and turned it into the direction of the Duke farm.

"Bo you sure you can do this?" Luke asked as Bo switched to drive and continued down Apple Valley Rd.

"Just make sure I stay awake." Bo replied as the four made their way to the Tri-County hospital.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Uncle Jesse? Are you really sure you're gonna be alright?" Daisy asked, holding an ice pack against her uncle's forehead.

"Duke hard-headedness comes in handy in more ways that one." Jesse verified, removing Daisy's hand from the ice pack and placing his own there. "Wonder where Maudine went?"

"I'm sure she didn't go far." Daisy replied, then changing the subject. "Listen, if you'll just let me wake Doc Appleby so he can have a look at you………."

"I said I'm alright and I'm alright!" Jesse insisted. "I only blacked out there for a minute. Ain't like it's the first time it ever happened." He reminded her, recalling a car accident and an enemy ambush during his time in Korea, both of which had robbed him of his consciousness in the past.

They were interrupted when they heard a moan coming from the living room and spied Emily hunched over.

"You alright, Aunt Emily?" Tommy asked with concern.

"What's taking them so long to get back?" She muttered through gritted teeth as she ignored Tommy's question.

As if on cue, the sound of a horn echoed from outside. Daisy pushed back the curtain on the window and was surprised to see Cooter's tow truck once again.

"Cooter's back!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Well that was quick." Jesse mused. "Tell him to get in here and let us know what's goin' on with the boys."

Daisy was just about to go outside to Cooter when an unexpected visitor came through the door. "Rosco?" She asked. "How'd you get here in Cooter's truck?"

"Well, seems the boys ran into a little trouble over at Waldron Pond." Rosco explained, telling everyone what happened and how he ended up with Cooter's truck. "But don't worry, I got 'em all on the road on the way to the hospital in my patrol car."

"Well how'd it look like Cooter was managin' with that busted ankle?" Jesse asked.

"Well he wadn't managing anything, Jesse. Bo was driving."

"Bo!" Jesse exclaimed, dropping the ice pack. "Rosco that boy didn't have no sense gettin' behind the wheel of an automobile right now!"

"Well, I tried to explain that to him Jesse, but he pretty much had his mind made up that he was gonna either drive my patrol car on or bring the tow truck back here to pick up Emily. Now I figured him goin' on was the lesser of two evils."

"Are you folks gonna stand around jabberin' all day or do one of you wanna get me to a hospital before this baby's born on the kitchen floor?" Emily asked, reminding them of her condition.

"Well that's why I'm here." Rosco replied, not too happy with her attitude but able to overlook it considering her present condition.

"I'm going with you." Jesse announced, rising from the chair to put his coat back on.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"Waddaya mean why? My boys are sick and on the way to the hospital. I'm gonna go make sure they're alright."

"But shouldn't the doctor come? What about my baby?"

"You're baby's in better shape than anyone in this house." Jesse replied. Before Emily could offer another argument, he pushed her out the door, toward the tow truck. "Keep an eye on Tommy, Daisy." He threw back as he himself went outside.

"Have someone look at that head of yours." Daisy shouted out as she watched the trio pile into the tow truck and set off on their own trip to the hospital.

**I_ don't know. Don't look too bad right now. Ya'll reckon it'll last?_**


	12. Chapter 12

"How you doin' up there, buddyro?" Cooter asked, trying to keep Bo awake while ignoring his throbbing ankle.

"I'm doin' alright." Bo replied while stifling a yawn.

It was true in more ways than one. Despite his own condition, Bo had managed to both remain awake and do a fair job of keeping the car on the road. He had done so well, in fact, that he had made it all the way to the state highway that would carry them directly to Tri-County Hospital.

Here, at least, the road was recognized by the Department of Transportation, which had sent a crew out with salt and a decent snow plow. Luxuries like these were considered unnecessary in Hazzard. The citizens and Boss Hogg had all agreed that investing thousands of dollars in a vehicle that might very well never be used was a severe waste of taxpayer dollars, especially when most of the farmers took to clearing the roads in front of their own property whenever there was inclement weather. While even high end tractors were unable to do as sufficient a job as a snow plow, their work had been vital in allowing Rosco's patrol car to get as far as it did.

"How 'bout you, Enos? You doin' better up there?" Cooter then asked, acknowledging the deputy.

"Well, stripping down to nothing in a car with three other men don't rank high on my list of memories worth repeating." Enos replied, pulling his blanket across him so that parts that really needed covering were. "But ole' Luke knew what he was talkin' about. I almost feel normal again, well, normal as anyone could feel riding down the main street here in Chickasaw County with nothin' on but his birthday suit."

"Yeah, well I'd rather know you's like that and alive than to see you fully dressed in a fancy coffin." Luke replied. "Seems there's plenty enough goin' on in this car without havin' ta see somebody sufferin' from hypothermia right before our very eyes."

Enos touched his foot to the discarded clothes on the floorboard. "Ding dang, they're right under the heater and they're still cold."

"And likely will be for awhile. Water just don't transmit heat, which is why it was doin' you more harm than good to have your clothes on. We learned that back in basic trainin'." He trailed off as he leaned his head back again.

"Luke you're gonna stay with us, ain't ya?" Cooter replied.

"I ain't goin' to sleep, but I gotta rest." Luke replied as he closed his eyes.

Bo tapped on the brakes as a car ahead of him began to slide. As it came to rest against the bridge, Bo could see that the damage wasn't extensive and the driver was alright. Normally, he would have stopped to help in such a situation, but none of the men in Rosco's car was in very good condition to offer help. And considering that small accidents like that were happening left and right, it would have been impossible to help everyone anyway. So though the driver thought he was waiving down a passing patrolman, Bo bypassed the car and continued ahead.

"This is worse that bein' back in Hazzard." Bo muttered as he was forced to tap on his brakes once again to avoid a collision.

"Just be careful. That's somethin' these locals don't seem to be doin'. They're drivin' on this stuff like they do it everyday." Cooter replied, watching a third car going in the opposite direction take a slide before the driver regained control and continued on.

"They're not the only ones." Bo replied with a slight edge to his voice.

As all four of the occupants peered out the front window, their eyes widened as they saw an eighteen wheeler that had been headed in the opposite direction begin to jackknife. As the trailer spun, the truck began a sideways decent down the road, occupying all four lanes as well as the emergency lane. And, turn his wheel as he might, there was simply nowhere for Bo Duke to go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Breathe. Just breathe." Jesse said, holding Emily's hand as Rosco drove the tow truck slowly toward Capital City.

"I can't breathe no more, it hurts too bad!" Emily exclaimed, holding onto Jesse's hand for dear life as Rosco looked at her nervously.

"I know it does but it'll go down in a minute. They always do." Jesse replied as Emily took the breaths he had suggested.

But no sooner had the contraction disappeared than another one began. Cutting off the circulation in Jesse's hand, Emily practiced her breathing before it ended with a scream.

"Rosco you might wanna hurry it up they're coming one on top of tha other." Jesse suggested.

"I'm goin' as fast as I can." Rosco argued.

"I can't have my baby in here!" Emily argued right back before she abruptly stopped her breathing and uttered a small "Oh no."

"Whatsamatter?" Jesse asked.

But there was no need for a reply when Jesse watched Emily instinctively go from fighting her pains to working with them.

"Pull over Rosco." Jesse ordered.

"Why Jesse?"

"Ain't it obvious?" Jesse replied. "You're gonna help me deliver a baby."

_**You thought Emily needed therapy, imagine openin' your eyes for the very first time and findin' yourself in the arms of Rosco P. Coltrane.**_

(A/N: Enos thanks Elenhin for her help in taking care of him during this chapter. If it had been up to the author, he would have probably been dead from hypothermia!)


	13. Chapter 13

"Rosco I said stop the car!" Jesse exclaimed after Emily let out another blood curdling yell.

"Oh, you meant _right now_?" Rosco asked, looking at the woman who was sweat drenched despite the frigid temperatures.

"No, I meant a mile down the road. Yes now!" Jesse exclaimed.

Because twenty four inches of snow blanketed everything except the narrow path of the road created by the local farmers with their tractors, Rosco's only option was to come to a dead standstill right in the middle of it. Putting the tow truck in park, Rosco cut some of the heat in order to offer the young lady some relief, despite the fact that neither he nor Jesse would consider themselves warm.

Opening the door, Jesse unlatched Emily's seatbelt and got out. "Okay Emily, I want ya ta turn sideways in the seat and lay down. Everything's gonna be alright."

"I can't……" She said before she winced in pain. "I can't have my baby in this filthy tow truck!"

"Honey that baby don't care if you're skydivin' out of a single engine bi-plane. It's lookin' to make it's grand entrance in the world and can't nobody stop it."

Reluctantly Emily turned to lie down in the seat, almost laying her head right in Rosco's lap.

"Well Rosco, this ain't the nine o'clock picture show! Get outta that seat and come over here to help me!"

"Ooo." Rosco muttered, grabbing the handle of the door. Struggling to push it open against a snow bank, he finally managed enough room to get out . Pulling his black coat around him, he made his way around to Jesse's side.

"Uh, Jesse, what would you have me do? Don't think the conditions are exactly right for me to go boilin' no water."

"And you wouldn't have time to no way. Take off yer coat." Jesse replied, as Emily instinctively pushed inside the cab.

"Take off my coat? But Jesse, it's awfully cold out here."

"That it is. Now take it off." Jesse replied firmly.

"Well alright." Rosco agreed, assuming that delivery duties must be easier when there wasn't a bulky coat to get in the way. "I'll just lay it right here. Mamma paid a pretty penny to get me this coat for Christmas and I wouldn't hear the end of it if I got anything on it." He chattered idly, draping the coat over the opened door.

And Jesse wasted no time removing that same coat from the open door as Emily let out one more yell. Throwing the coat on the seat just in front of where she sat, Rosco's heart sank a few seconds later as Jesse let out a small laugh and a baby began to cry.

"Lookie there Emily! Looks like you got yerself a fine little boy!" Jesse exclaimed with another laugh, wrapping the baby loosely in Rosco's coat. Removing a shoestring from Emily's own shoe, Jesse then commenced to tying off the umbilical cord before he used his pocketknife to cut it. Wrapping the baby tighter, he then picked him up and handed him to Rosco.

"Here, keep him warm whilst I get Emily situated again." Jesse ordered, putting the baby in the sheriff's arms.

Looking at his soiled coat, Rosco had a frown on his face. "What am I gonna tell Mamma?" He muttered before the baby quieted down and delivered a little sneeze, bringing a smile Rosco's face.

A few moments later, Jesse had Emily sitting upright in the middle of the cab once again while the passenger's seat had been swabbed as best as it could be with the greasy oil rags Cooter had thrown into the cab. Turning back to Rosco, Jesse took the baby and handed him to his mother before ordering Rosco back into the driver's seat to continue the journey.

"I can't believe it!" Emily beamed, looking at the tiny face. "He just seems so…….so perfect. You were wonderful Mr. Duke!"

"Well that'll be decided at the hospital." Jesse replied. "Although I don't see us hearing' much different there."

"Thank you so much." She continued. "I just knew we were gonna have a real disaster on our hands."

"I know, but we didn't. Let's just hope the worst of this blizzard is behind us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rosco had just settled in a chair in the emergency room waiting area, a cup of piping hot coffee in his hand. Emily and the baby had been taken back and were being examined while Jesse was making an inquiry at the admittance desk.

He watched as the elderly man finally turned from the receptionist and trudged toward the waiting area, frowning.

"Something wrong, Jesse?" Rosco asked, fearing the worst.

"I don't like it." Jesse replied. "That receptionist up there claims there ain't been anybody by the name of Duke or Davenport or Strait seen here this evening'."

Rosco almost laughed. "Well they got to be here Jesse, I mean, they left outta Hazzard way before we did, and we took the long way getting' here."

"I know, but we'd a took the same route if Thomas' tractor hadn't broke down in the middle of tha road." Jesse replied. "Apparently they got through 'fore that happened or we'd a seen 'em on our way. I dunno, maybe they got stuck in traffic or somethin'. There's a lotta folks out there that ought not ta be in weather like this."

"I'd agree with that Jesse. There's folks out there slippin' and slidin' all over the place. Looked like a good old fashion Hazzard County car chase in slow motion.

The sometimes friends, other times enemies fell silent for a few moments as they watched the already overcrowded emergency room fill even more as several folks with relatively minor injuries slowly began to trickle in. As one man led another outfitted in a temporary arm sling and head bandage to the waiting area, Jesse and Rosco slid over on the extended sofa to make room for them.

"Comfortable, Joe?" The first man asked.

"As much as I can be." Joe replied, gingerly adjusting his arm as he sat. "Can you get me some water, Phil?"

Phil shook his head. "'Fraid not, little brother. The nurse back there said no food or drink until after they've had the chance to x-ray that arm, make sure they're not gonna hafta do surgery to set the bone."

Joe seemed bothered by the fact but remained calm.

"You hurtin' real bad?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, to tell the truth." Joe replied. "Coulda been worse , I suppose."

"You're right." His brother agreed. "I'd say we came out pretty lucky compared to most of the people in that pileup."

"Yeah, especially whoever was in that Hazzard County patrol car." Joe announced. "The way it got knocked over the side of that bridge…..I just don't see how anybody could have survived."

_**Folks, with poor ole' Uncle Jesse sittin' right there listenin', I wouldn't be surprised if the Tri-County Emergency room suddenly found themselves with one more patient.**_


	14. Chapter 14

"Uncle Jesse, are you alright?"

Jesse just sat there in the emergency room with a look of shock on his face, unable to offer a reply to the question.

"Uncle Jesse?"

Hearing those words, any words, coming from the mouth of his youngin' would have normally offered a great deal of relief to the farmer right then.

That is, if they had come from one of the two he was concerned with at the time.

"Did something happen to Emily?" Daisy then asked.

"Um no, she's fine." Rosco offered as a nurse came out and called Joe and Pete to the back. "How'd you get here anyway?"

"Tom Newberry pulled Dixie outta the snow with his tractor." Daisy replied, her hands on the handles of the borrowed wheelchair supplied by the hospital. "Once he got it back to the farm, Tommy begged me to bring him to the hospital so he could check on his aunt. He's worried about her."

"Does she have her baby yet?" Tommy asked hopefully.

Rosco offered him a slight smile. "Looks like you're gonna have another little boy to compete with."

"Alright!" Tommy grinned. "We're gonna be cousins and do stuff together, just like Bo and Luke. Right Uncle Jesse?"

"Is everything alright here?" A nurse asked, having seen Tommy in the borrowed wheelchair.

"I wanna go see Aunt Emily, Daisy." Tommy announced, looking at the nurse. "My Aunt Emily had her baby today and I wanna go see her."

"I'll take you to the maternity ward……….if there aren't any objections." The nurse announced.

After receiving assurances that it would be fine, the nurse steered Tommy out of the room to visit his Aunt Emily.

Once Tommy was gone Daisy allowed herself the look of concern she had hidden. "Okay if Emily is alright, then what's wrong? Are one of the boys worse off than we thought?"

"Boys ain't here yet." Rosco replied solemnly.

"Not here?" Daisy shook her head in confusion. "Why that can't be. They've had more than enough time to……….."

"They's an accident." Jesse finally spoke up. "Seems the patrol car got knocked off the side of a bridge somehow."

"Oh no!" Daisy exclaimed, sitting in the spot that Joe had vacated. "Well are they alright? What about Enos……..and Cooter?!"

"We don't know nothin' yet girl." Jesse replied, patting her hand. "But it don't sound too good. Just want ya to be prepared for whatever we're gonna face."

As Daisy and Jesse embraced each other, Rosco swallowed the last of his coffee and stood up. "I'm gonna go call Sheriff Little and see what he can tell us 'bout the accident." He announced, offering Jesse a slight pat on the shoulder before he left.

Rosco was quick to learn that the accident he was inquiring about, as well as several other accidents on the icy roads, had stretched the thin staff of the Chickasaw County Police Department to its absolute limits. The only staff person on duty at the sheriff's office was Little's secretary, who was attending a ten-line phone that was lit up like a Christmas tree. Because of this, she didn't have time to go into details for Rosco, more or less just verifying the information he had overheard from the men in the emergency room earlier.

"Well what did he say?" Jesse demanded once Rosco had returned.

"Didn't get to talk to him, Jesse. But according to the secretary he's out at the accident site now. Maybe I oughta go over there and see what's goin' on for myself."

"We'd really appreciate that Rosco." Daisy replied. "It would make us feel better, knowin' somebody close to the boys was out there with them."

"Well it ain't just for them, you know. Enos happens to be out there too." Rosco replied.

"We haven't forgotten about that." Daisy replied, memories of Enos and Cooter flooding her mind as well.

"Well ya ain't goin' by yerself I'm comin' with you." Jesse insisted, passing Rosco up on his way toward the door before the sheriff could protest.

"Folks, I got an announcement to make." A security guard called out, waving his arms in the air to get everyone's attention, the gesture forcing Jesse to stop out of curiosity.

"As most of you know, there's been a major accident about half a mile from here on Chicasaw Avenue involving an eighteen wheeler." The guard continued once the room had quieted. "All five lanes of the highway are closed at the scene. The police are working to get the victims here as quickly as possible and have closed the highway between the accident scene and the hospital in order to prevent traffic backups that would slow the process. Therefore, if you get ready to leave the hospital in the next little while, we ask that you take the rear parking lot exit that will put you on Lavender Road. I also must warn you that, if your injury or illness isn't life threatening, you might be in for a long wait. The staff apologizes for this and assures you that they will continue to do everything they can to see everyone just as soon as they are able."

As collective groans went across the room, Jesse continued onward while Rosco did his best to catch up. As they were passing a couple of EMT's outside who was just about to get into their ambulance for a second run to the accident scene, Jesse grabbed his head and nearly fell down.

"Careful sir!" One of the EMT's said, noticing the situation in time to catch Jesse on his way down. "Looks like you have a pretty nasty bump on the head there. You been checked on yet?"

"I ain't here to be checked on I'm going to see about my boys." Jesse muttered, removing himself from the EMT's grasp.

"His nephews were involved in the big accident and he's worried about them." Rosco explained.

"Well I feel for you sir, but I'm afraid civilians can't go anywhere near the accident sight. We've got to keep the route as clear as possible for victim transport."

"Well tiddly tuddly, he ain't with just anybody. I'm Roscoooo P. Coltrane, Sheriff of Hazzard County." Rosco announced, proudly jutting out his badge.

"Yes sir, and you're in Chicasaw County." The EMT reminded him as he closed the ambulance door. "Take your friend here back in the emergency room and have someone look at that bump. You'd do his nephews better by staying out of our way."

Watching as the ambulance pulled out once again, Rosco looked at Jesse. "He's right, Jesse, that dizzy spell says you need checked on too."

"Well why not, everybody else in Hazzard County's here!" Jesse replied sarcastically as Rosco led him back inside.

"Okay people!" They heard a nurse say as they walked back near the receptionists area. "Ambulance three is en-route now. Estimated arrival two minutes." She announced as she shouted out a lot of coded medical talk that Jesse and even Rosco didn't quite understand.

"Victim's name?" One of the doctors called back.

"Uh, all I got was the last name, Duke." The nurse shouted back.

Rosco and Jesse simply looked at one another as Daisy exclaimed "Duke!" from the waiting area and rushed over to meet them.

Without a word, an unspoken agreement was forged to go out to the area where the ambulance unloaded. And that's just what they did.

"Folks! Folks I'm sorry but you can't be out here. This is a restricted area." The security guard told them, having followed them when he noticed their destination.

When he was ignored, the guard continued with. "If you don't leave this area I'll have no choice but to phone the police."

"And I'm sure they'll rush right over from the accident site, won't they?" Daisy replied sarcastically as the ambulance pulled in.

Realizing that his usual threats would have little impact on a day like today, the guard smirked at them. "Just try to stay out of the way." He said.

As the ambulance stopped, they did comply to stay out of the way, if only to allow the medics the space they needed to extract whichever boy had been brought to the hospital.

Standing in the background, Daisy and Jesse stood clasping onto each other, unconsciously holding their breath.

Having heard about the wreck, a million possibilities had gone through Jesse's mind. He had come to accept the fact that the boys might have suffered broken bones, or lacerations, or even unconsciousness.

But when the doors of that ambulance opened, and he saw inside, his eyes widened in shock, having never expected the scene that lay before him.

_**Now's about the time we'd take a break and look at a commercial for long-term life insurance, ain't it?**_


	15. Chapter 15

"Cooter?"

While Jesse couldn't say he wasn't happy to see his good friend arrive at the hospital wide eyed, awake, and in one piece, it took some effort for him, and Daisy, to hide their disappointment.

"Oh Cooter!" Daisy then exclaimed once the shock had passed. After the EMTs pulled him out on the stretcher, she rushed forward and leaned down to give him a hug. "When we heard about what happened to the patrol car it scared us all to death! We thought you might have been killed!"

"Well you ain't by yourself there, I thought I's gonna be killed too!" Cooter confessed.

"Well Cooter, as glad as we are to see you I'm a bit confused. From the way they talked inside we thought one of the boys was bein' brought in."

"Yeah, they said the name of the patient bein' brought in on this ambulance was Duke. Said it loud and clear." Rosco added.

"Well maybe that's 'cause it was."

Rosco, Jesse, and Daisy turned toward the sound of that voice and three mouths opened in shock. For there, standing in front of them, were Bo and Luke themselves!

"Bo! Luke!" Daisy exclaimed, rushing forward to wrap an arm around each of their necks at the same time, the act nearly knocking Luke off his crutches. As Jesse slowly came out of his shock, he stood grinning at the sight as Daisy very nearly pulled her cousins off their feet.

"Careful, Miss, these gentlemen have lost a lot of blood and they're weak." An EMT reminded her.

Reluctantly letting go, Daisy moved away while Jesse stepped forward and gave the boys light hugs of his own, unable to let the moment pass without offering some affection. "Where were you boys anyway?"

"Sittin' up front." Luke replied. "Cooter was actin' like a baby with that busted ankle and all so's they decided he's the one who'd be put on the stretcher."

"That ain't exactly what I meant." Jesse clarified as Cooter shot Luke a look of resentment. "I mean, where were you when that patrol car went over the side of the road? 'Cause from the looks of ya, praise the Lord, you ain't no worse off that when ya left tha house."

"Well that'd be about the time we's gettin' real intimate with a street light." Bo replied.

"Come again?" Rosco asked.

"Folks, I hate to interrupt but we have other patients to attend to. Please continue this inside." One of the EMTs asked.

Once Cooter had been situated on an emergency room bed and the EMTs had reclaimed their stretcher, Luke verified what had happened. "Well I ain't sure if you've ever noticed, but that bridge where the accident occurred, they built it where the street lights wouldn't get in the way of the sidewalk. And they did it by adding these square shaped areas that jutted out away from the sidewalk every twenty feet or so all the way down the bridge. Not a big area at all, just enough room to put a pole and maybe allow a worker to walk around it."

"I'm with ya so far." Jesse replied.

And that's where Bo picked up. "Well, soon as we saw what's happenin' with that truck, we knew we didn't have anywhere we could go in the car. That's when Luke here spotted that area around the streetlight. Well Enos jumped out and helped Cooter over and me 'nd Luke, well, we sorta helped each other over. And no sooner had we crowded 'round that pole than the truck hit Rosco's car and sent it slidin' 'fore it went over the side of the bridge."

"Say, where is Enos anyway?" Rosco asked.

"Oh Enos is fine now, and since the ambulance was filled to capacity, one of the deputy's agreed to drive Enos over in his patrol car, seein' how he really didn't need medical attention anymore."

"But shouldn't he have been here by now?" Daisy argued.

As if on cue, she glanced toward the emergency room entrance, just in time to see the deputy walk through the door.

"Enos!" She called out, a big smile on her face. As she rushed toward him, Enos instinctively held out his arms.

"Daisy!" He responded happily, grabbing her up in a hug. But, feeling that the blanket wound about him began to slip, that hug only lasted a second.

"Ding dang, Daisy." He blushed, able to grab the material before he exposed himself to her or anyone else in the emergency room who's attention the Hazzard folks had commanded.

Laughing, Daisy wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I wanna make sure all five of my favorite guys are alright."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well why not?"

"'Cause I don't like it, that's why. It opens up in the back and show's ya south end to everybody in viewin' distance."

Daisy laughed. "Uncle Jesse, I might have expected this from one of the boys, but not you!"

"You know, I think if we's actin' like this, he'd be threatenin' us with the switch. What about you Bo?"

"Yep, I think you're right, Luke."

Jesse snarled. "Well if I gotta wear this thang 'least go git me another one so's I can put it on backward and be decent. If I wanted either one of them youngin's seein' me half-naked I'd go out and buy myself a bathing suit."

A few minutes later, Jesse had changed into his hospital gowns and Daisy was pushing him in a wheelchair down the hall while Bo was pushing Luke, on their way to see Emily, Tommy, and the baby. Of all people who could have ended up in the hospital that day, Jesse never imagined that he, along with Luke, would be the only two to be admitted to a room. After the doctor had seen the bump on his forehead and heard about him being knocked unconscious with a dizzy spell to follow, he felt a night of observation was in order.

Having a doctor on hand back at the Duke farm had done wonders for Bo and Luke's conditions. While they had both lost quite a bit of blood, the doctor didn't feel that Bo had lost enough to warrant a transfusion. So along with an antibiotic to prevent infection, the doctor ordered that a fair amount of orange juice and cakes be eaten to bring his blood sugar up, orders that Bo was more than happy to follow.

Luke, however, had lost more. While the amound certainly couldn't be considered fatal, his weakness and need to heal from surgery was considered, and a small transfusion was ordered. Once he had received it, Luke looked, and felt, a whole lot better. But considering what he had went through to lose that blood, the doctors felt a couple days of hospital rest would do him good.

"I believe that's her room there, 247." Jesse pointed out.

Knocking softly on the door, Daisy received a faint invitation inside and she opened the door, pushing Jesse ahead of her.

"Bo! Luke!" Tommy exclaimed in glee, seeing the people he admired the most enter the room. "Look what Sheriff Rosco did!"

"Wow, looks like a party." Bo commented, looking around at the streamers and the balloons that had been hung around the room.

"Of course it is, it's a birthday party!" Tommy grinned. "He got a cake and everything!"

The boys looked at the bed table that contained several plates on which there were pieces of cake, wrapped in cellophane, having obviously come from the hospital cafeteria.

"Wow, that's pretty nice of ya Rosco, didn't know you had it in ya." Luke commented.

"Well of course I do." Rosco replied, insulted. "I helped bring that little feller in this world a little bit and there ain't nothin' too good for him, is there buddy?" He asked, turning his attention to the baby with a smile and the affectionate laugh normally reserved for his dog. "That's right! You just let your Uncle Rosco know what you want and you'll get it. Yes sir!"

"You've been wonderful sheriff, all of you have." Emily announced, looking at everyone in the room in turn, including Enos although he hadn't helped her directly. "The way I acted……I wouldn't have blamed any of you if you just washed your hands of me and put me out in the snow. But you didn't. None of you ever gave up and because of your efforts, my sweet angel is here, and he's perfect!"

Jesse smiled, knowing that was at least the second time she had referred to the baby as being perfect. "Well, is 'Perfect' his name, or did you have something else in mind?"

Before she could answer, the door opened again, revealing a man none of the Hazzard folks knew. Tommy, however, greeted the man with an excited grin.

"Uncle James!" He exclaimed, getting a hug in return.

"Hey kiddo, how ya doin'?" The man asked, ruffling his hair.

"Fine! Guess what? The baby's here!" Tommy replied.

"I……um…….kinda figured that out." James replied with a slight grin, turning toward Emily.

"Hello Mr. McGee." She smiled, looking at the dozen roses in his hand. "Are those for me?"

"No they're for Tommy here." He replied, tossing the bouquet in Tommy's lap.

"No they're NOT!" Tommy replied quiet seriously, bringing chuckles to everyone in the room.

After kissing his wife, James McGee took the infant out of her arms. "Hey there little man." He said, feeling the baby's hand with a single finger and getting the tiny hand wrapped around it in response. "Daddy tried to get here as fast as he could but that mean old snow got in his way." He tried to frown a bit but couldn't manage because of his smile. "Did you tell them the news yet?" He then asked, looking at Emily as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"I was just about to." Emily replied, looking at the confused occupants of the room.

"You're gonna like this." Tommy assured them.

"Well what is it?" Jesse asked.

"Well you were asking about the name." Emily reminded him. "I thought James Jr. would be an appropriate name for the baby."

"But I didn't agree with that." James cut in. "My dad was raised as a Jr. and heavily discouraged us from naming our sons after ourselves. Said he always felt he was required to live up to certain standards he could never achieve, all because of the name."

"So then, I suggested Jesse." Emily replied, looking at Jesse who smiled at her from his chair. "After all, he delivered the baby."

As Daisy bent down to hug Jesse, James cut in again. "But then, we remembered, that if it hadn't have been for Bo's persistence in going after Emily and Tommy, that they might very well have been killed in that collapsed cabin. So we thought of naming him Bo."

As Bo blushed and Luke patted him on the back, Emily turned to look at Daisy. "But then we remembered that Daisy was right there with Bo during the whole rescue mission, and it wouldn't be fair to exclude her."

"Well honey I appreciate the thought, but I just don't think the name Daisy would quite suit him." Daisy replied with a giggle as she felt the baby's soft cheek with the back of her fingers.

"I agree with you." James smiled. "But after Emily had told me everything that happened over the phone, we decided the baby simply had to have a name that honored all of his heroes."

"That'd be a long name." Luke pointed out.

"Not really." James replied, holding the baby out so everyone could see him. "Lady….." He began, looking at Daisy. "………..and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to then newest member of our family…………….. Duke Travis McGee."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I still don't see why they couldn't 'ave put Luke in my room." Jesse muttered later as he was being wheeled back to his room.

"We all heard the same thing, Uncle Jesse. Some rich patient comin' in requested the other bed in your room because he claimed it had the best view from the window." Daisy reminded him.

"And all the hospital rooms was occupied 'fore you and Luke were admitted." Bo reminded him. "Didn't have no choice but to separate ya."

"I jist don't like stayin' in the same room overnight with a stranger." Jesse admitted as Bo opened the door to his room and pushed him inside.

"Howdy folks!"

"Well hey Lulu!" Daisy exclaimed, snaking around Jesse to hug her friend as soon as she was able.

"Howdy Miss Lulu." Bo replied with a smile. "Don't know why you're here but it sure was nice of ya to come and check on Jesse."

"I'm glad to see you're on the mend, Jesse." Lulu replied, squeezing his hand. "But I'm afraid that's not why I'm here."

Before she could clarify, a moan came from the other bed in the room. "The pain, Lulu." The voice moaned. "When are they gonna bring me somethin' for the pain?"

"Don't tell me that's J.D.!" Jesse exclaimed.

There was a quick knock on the door behind them before two nurses who appeared annoyed hurried in with two trays. "Here you are, sir." They announced, pulling the table over to Boss's bed and placing the two trays on it. "Maybe this will help with you 'pain.'"

Immediately, Boss bolted up into a sitting position and removed the covers from the plates. As the nurses stared in shock, he began to devour the contents.

"Why's he here anyway?" Daisy asked.

"'Cause he's convinced he's starvin' to death." Lulu replied. "With J.D. at the house, we run outta food a couple hours after the storm hit."

"But Miss Lulu." Bo replied. "He couldn't have been starvin' to death that storm just hit last night!"

"Don't tell me, tell him!" Lulu replied. "The doctor didn't even wanna see him in the emergency room, let alone admit him. And for somebody who won't shell out enough money to buy his wife a new dress ever year or so, he sure didn't think twice 'bout spendin' enough to convince that doctor he needed to be here!"

"You reckon there's any other bed's available in this hospital?" Jesse then whispered to Daisy, deciding that spending the night with a stranger didn't seem quite so bad anymore.

**_Well once again our friends have weathered another storm, only this time, it's the type that comes outta the sky. And the only loss to speak of was the patrol cars, but then again, that ain't nothin' unusual._**

**_And as the story ends, there's only two people left ta feel sorry for. First one's that youngin' named Duke. Ya know sooner or later he's bound ta end up back in Hazzard, and just walkin' in with a name like that 'ill spell trouble for him._**

**_And then there's Jesse, stuck in the same room with J.D. Hogg. Ya know, I'd be wantin' another room too. I betcha ole' Boss snores._**

THE END


End file.
